Assisted cubic to hexagonal phase transition in GeSbTe thin films on silicon nitride

Abstract

The amorphous to face-centered cubic (fcc) and fcc to hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystallization temperatures of GeSbTe thin films on underlying silicon nitride and silicon dioxide films were studied through slow(1 K/min) resistance versus temperature measurements. The amorphous to fcc phase transition is observed at similar to 170 degrees C for both cases but the fcc to hcp phase transition temperature for GeSbTe films on silicon nitride is observed to be similar to 80 degrees C lower than for GeSbTe films on silicon dioxide, possibly due to the hexagonal symmetry of silicon nitride. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.