Advantages of SiSb phase-change material and its applications in phase-change memory

Te-free environmental friendly SiSb phase-change material is investigated for the applications of phase-change memory. The binary material, which is compatible with the complementary metal-oxide semiconductor manufacturing process, is outstanding in various properties comparing with the most widely adopted ternary Ge2Sb2Te5. Si16Sb84 is with an archive life time 10(6) times longer than that of Ge2Sb2Te5 at 110 degrees C. The density change of Si16Sb84 upon crystallization is only about 3.8%, which is much smaller than that of Ge2Sb2Te5. Furthermore, the interfacial diffusion in TiN/Si16Sb84 interface is much slighter than that in TiN/Ge2Sb2Te5. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.