A Comparative Study of Electrical Switching Behavior of Certain Tellurium based Chalcogenide Thin Films for Phase Change Memory (PCM) Applications

This work describes the electrical switching behavior of three telluride based amorphous chalcogenide thin film samples, Al-Te, Ge-Se-Te and Ge-Te-Si. These amorphous thin films are made using bulk glassy ingots, prepared by conventional melt quenching technique, using flash evaporation technique; while Al-Te sample has been coated in coplanar electrode geometry, Ge-Se-Te and Ge-Te-Si samples have been deposited with sandwich electrodes. It is observed that all the three samples studied, exhibit memory switching behavior in thin film form, with Ge-Te-Si sample exhibiting a faster switching characteristic. The difference seen in the switching voltages of the three samples studied has been understood on the basis of difference in device geometry and thickness. Scanning electron microscopic image of switched region of a representative Ge15Te81Si4 sample shows a structural change and formation of crystallites in the electrode region, which is responsible for making a conducting channel between the two electrodes during switching.

Structural and optical properties of RF sputtered Bi2VO5.5 thin films

Thin films of Bismuth Vanadate Bi2VO5.5 (BiV) have been deposited on amorphous quartz and polycrystalline silicon substrates by r.f. sputtering technique and characterised for their structural and optical properties. The os-deposited films at room temperature are found to be amorphous and transparent over the spectral range of 0.55 mu m to 12 mu m. Post-deposition annealing at 400 degrees C in air shows the formation of the BiV crystalline phase. The optical constants namely refractive index. extinction coefficient and optical bandgap of both amorphous and crystalline films have been determined. The refractive index of the as-deposited film is around 2.4 at 0.7 mu m and drops to 2.26 at 1.56 mu m. The optical bandgap of the material has been determined from the computed values of the absorption coefficients.

Enhanced magnetoresistance in as?deposited oxygen?deficient La0.6Pb0.4MnO3-y thin films

The La0.6Pb0.4MnO3(LPMO) thin films were in situ deposited at different oxygen partial pressure and at a substrate temperature of 630 degrees C by pulsed laser deposition. The films grown at lower oxygen partial pressures showed an increase in lattice parameter and resistivity and a decrease in the insulator-metal transition temperature as compared to the stoichiometric LPMO thin film grown at 400 mTorr. Further, these oxygen-deficient thin films showed over 70% giant magnetoresistance (GMR) near the insulator-metal transition temperature against the 40% GMR in the case of stoichiometric thin films. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Ferroelectric properties of Bi2VO5.5 thin films on LaAlO3 and SiO2/Si substrates with LaNiO3 base electrode

Ferroelectric bismuth vanadate Bi2VO5.5 (BVO) thin films have been grown on LaAlO3 (LAO) and SiO2/Si substrates with LaNiO3 (LNO) base electrodes by the pulsed laser deposition technique. The effect of substrate temperature on the ferroelectric properties of BVO thin films, has been studied by depositing the thin films at different temperatures. The BVO thin films grown on LNO/LAO were textured whereas the thin films grown on LNO/SiO2/Si were polycrystalline. The BVO thin films grown at 450?°C exhibited good ferroelectric properties indicating that LNO acts as a good electrode material. The remanent polarization Pr and coercive field Ec obtained for the BVO thin films grown at 450?°C on LNO/LAO and LNO/SiO2/Si were 2.5 ?C/cm2, 37 kV/cm and 4.6?C/cm2, 93 kV/cm, respectively. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Oriented ferroelectric thin films of PbTiO3, (Pb,La)TiO3, and Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 by nebulized spray pyrolysis

Nebulized spray pyrolysis provides a good low?temperature chemical route for preparing thin films of PbTiO3, (Pb0.9,La0.1)TiO3 and Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3. The films are a? or c? axis oriented, with spherical grains of ?30 nm and give satisfactory P?E hysteresis loops. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Rapid thermal processed thin films of niobium pentoxide (Nb2 O5) deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering

Niobium pentoxide thin films have been deposited on silicon and platinum-coated silicon substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. The as-deposited films were amorphous and showed good electrical properties in terms of a dielectric permittivity of about 30, and leakage current density of 10(-6) A cm(-2) al a field of 120 kV cm(-1). A rapid thermal annealing process at 800 degrees C further increased the dielectric constant to 90 and increased the leakage current density to 5 x 10(-6) A cm(-2). The current-voltage characteristics observed at low and high fields suggested a combination of phenomena at different regimes of applied electric field. The capacitance-voltage characteristics performed in the metal-insulator-semiconductor configuration indicated good electronic interfaces with a nominal trap density of 4.5 x 10(12) cm(-2) eV(-1), which is consistent with the behavior observed with conventional dielectrics such as SiO2 on silicon surfaces.

Rapid thermal processed thin films of reactively sputtered Ta2O5

Rapid thermal processed thin films of reactively sputtered tantalum pentoxide Ta2O5 thin films have been deposited on silicon and platinum coated silicon substrates by reactive magnetron sputtering. The as-deposited films were amorphous and showed good electrical properties in terms of a dielectric permittivity of about 24 and leakage current density of 9 x 10(-8) A cm(-2). A rapid thermal annealing process at temperatures above 700 degrees C crystallized the films, increased the dielectric relative permittivity, and decreased the leakage current. The dielectric constant for a film rapidly annealed at 850 degrees C increased to 45 and its leakage current density lowered to 2 x 10(-8) A cm(-2). The dielectric measurements in the MIS configuration showed that Ta2O5 might be used as a dielectric material instead of SiO2 or Si3N4 for integrated devices. The current voltage characteristics observed at low and high fields suggested different conduction mechanisms.

Reactive magnetron co?sputtered antiferroelectric lead zirconate thin films

Antiferroelectric lead zirconate thin films were formed on platinum coated silicon substrates by a reactive magnetron co-sputtering method. The films showed (240) preferred orientation. The crystallization temperatures and the preferred orientation were affected by the lead content in the films. The electric field forced transformation from the antiferroelectric phase to the ferroelectric phase was observed at room temperature with a maximum polarization value of 36 mu C/cm(2). The average field to excite the ferroelectric state and that for the reversion to the antiferroelectric state were 267 and 104 kV/cm respectively. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Structure and composition related properties of titania thin films

The dependence of optical constants, structure and composition of titania thin films on the process parameters has been investigated. Films were deposited using both reactive electron beam evaporation and ion Assisted Deposition(IAD). If has been observed that the refractive index of IAD films is higher than that for the reactively deposited films, without much difference in the extinction coefficient. Electron paramagnetic resonance has been used to estimate qualitatively the presence of non-stoichiometry in the films. It has been found that these spectra correlate very well the optical behaviour of the films. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the neutral oxygen deposited films were stress free, while the IAD films showed tensile stress. The lattice parameters showed anisotropic change with ion beam parameters.

Surface resistance and residual losses of Ag?doped YBa2Cu3O7?? thin films on sapphire

High?quality Ag?doped YBa2Cu3O7?? thin films have been grown by laser ablation on R?plane ?1102? sapphire without any buffer layer. Thin films have been found to be highly c?axis oriented with Tc=90 K, transition width ?T?1 K, and transport Jc=1.2×106 A?cm?2 at 77 K in self?field conditions. The microwave surface resistance of these films measured on patterned microstrip resonators has been found to be 530 ?? at 10 GHz at 77 K which is the lowest reported on unbuffered sapphire. Improved in?plane epitaxy and reduced reaction rate between the substrate and the film caused due to Ag in the film are believed to be responsible for this greatly improved microwave surface resistance. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Variation of Cu-O charge-transfer energies in YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films studied by photoemission spectroscopy

It is pointed out that the change in the oxidation state of Cu in YBa2CU3O7-x with increasing x vitiates the trend in the Cu(2p) satellite intensity and hence the Cu-O charge-transfer energy. When Y is partly replaced by Ca, however, the satellite intensity and T(c) decrease with the increase in Ca content or hole concentration, just as in other cuprates.

LaNiO3: a promising material for contact with YBa2 Cu3O7-x thin films

Epitaxial LaNiO3 metallic oxide thin films have been grown on c-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films on LaAlO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique and the interface formed between the two films has been examined by measuring the contact conductance of the same. The specific contact conductance of the interface measured using a modified four probe method was found to be 1.4 to 6 x 10(4) ohm(-1) cm(-2) at 77 K, There are indications that contact conductance can be brought closer to that obtained for noble metal-YBCO interface.

Nonresonant microwave absorption studies of surface passivation of superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−δ thin films

The surfaces of laser ablated thin films of YBa2Cu3O7?? have been passivated with about 100 Å thick textured layer of Ca0.95Sr0.025Ba0.025Zr0.98Ta0.01Ti0.01O3. It is shown that this low loss dielectric material preserves the quality of the surface and also prolongs the aging process. The films (both passivated and as?deposited) have been studied for degradation on exposure to atmosphere and also on dipping directly in water. The technique of nonresonant microwave absorption is used to study the effects and extent of degradation in these films. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Photoinduced transparency of effective three-photon absorption coefficient for femtosecond laser pulses in Ge16As29Se55 thin films

We report a dramatic change in effective three-photon absorption coefficient of amorphous Ge16As29Se55 thin films, when its optical band gap decreases by 10 meV with 532 nm light illumination. This large change provides valuable information on the higher excited states, which are otherwise inaccessible via normal optical absorption. The results also indicate that photodarkening in chalcogenide glasses can serve as an effective tool to tune the multiphoton absorption in a rather simple way. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics.

Enhancement of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in Fe thin films grown on GaAs(001) with an MgO underlayer

The understanding and control of anisotropy in Fe films grown on cubic systems such as GaAs and MgO has been of interest from the point of view of applications in devices. We report magnetic anisotropy studies on Fe/GaAs(001) and Fe/MgO/GaAs(001) prepared by pulsed laser deposition. In Fe/GaAs(001), magneto optical Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements revealed a dominant uniaxial anisotropy for Fe thickness less than 20 monolayers (ML) and this was confirmed by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) studies. Multiple steps in the hysteresis loops were observed for Fe films of thickness 20 and 25 ML. Whereas, in Fe/MgO/GaAs(001), even at 25 ML of Fe, the uniaxial anisotropy remained dominant. The anisotropy constants obtained from FMR spectra have shown that the relative strength of uniaxial anisotropy is higher as compared to the cubic anisotropy constant in the case of Fe/MgO/GaAs(001). (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3556941]