Rare Earth Doping Brings Thermal Stability Improvement in Zn0.15Sb0.85 Alloy for Phase Change Memory Application

In this paper, the rare earth (Er or Sm) doped Zn 0.15 Sb 0.85 films were synthesized by magnetron sputtering. The crystallization temperature ( T c ), activation energy ( E a ) and the temperature for ten year data retention ( T ten ) of the thin films were increased significantly by increasing rare earth dopants, revealing thermal stability improvement. Importantly, it was found that the Sm doping was a more effective way to increase T c and T than compared with Er doping due to its lower electronegativity. Therefore, the Zn 0.15 Sb 0.85 alloys by rare earth doping, which exhibited excellent thermal stability, were the promising candidates for phase change memory application.