Improvement in reliability and power consumption based on Ge₁₀Sb₉₀ films through erbium doping

For the application of phase-change materials at nonvolatile memory, it is very desirable to enhance the thermal stability and decrease the power consumption. In our previous work, it has been proved that the Er doping can significantly improve the thermal stability of Sb thin film. In this work, the Er-doped Ge₁₀Sb₉₀ thin films were fabricated by magnetron sputtering. It is observed that the crystallization temperatures and 10-year retention temperature of Ge₁₀Sb₉₀ films can be significantly improved by Er doping, indicating the improvement in reliability. In addition, the resistances of amorphous and crystalline state of Er-doped Ge₁₀Sb₉₀ increase with increasing the Er content, revealing the decrease in writing current of phase-change device based on the film. Last but not least, the phase-change memory cells based on the Er-doped Ge₁₀Sb₉₀ film were fabricated and tested, which demonstrated their lower power consumption and excellent switching endurance.