Thermally induced phase separation of Si–Sb–Te alloy

Abstract Si2Sb2Te5 alloys have potential applications for future chalcogenide random access memory (C-RAM). The thermally induced crystallization process of Si2Sb2Te5 alloys was characterized by in situ heating experiments with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The crystallization of a Si2Sb2Te5 amorphous film was initiated at around 160 °C, concomitant with a phase separation process. The crystallized product of the amorphous Si2Sb2Te5 film was a nano-scale (10 nm in local-domain size) composite material consisting of amorphous Si (a-Si), crystalline Sb2Te3 (c-Sb2Te3) and crystalline Te (c-Te).