Suppression for an intermediate phase in ZnSb films by NiO-doping

The structural evolution and phase-change kinetics of NiO-doped ZnSb films are investigated. NiO-doped ZnSb films exhibit a single-step crystallization process, which is different from that of undoped ZnSb. NiO-doped ZnSb can directly crystallize into a stable ZnSb phase at temperatures greater than 320 °C with suppression of a metastable ZnSb phase. These characteristics enlarge the amorphous/crystalline resistance ratio by approximately five orders of magnitude. Moreover, NiO doping of ZnSb films increases crystallization temperature from 260 to 275 °C, improves data retention temperature from 201.7 to 217.3 °C and increases crystalline activation energy from 5.64 to 6.34 eV. The improvement of the thermal parameters in the nanocomposite can be attributed to stable ZnSb grain growth refinement owing to the dispersion of NiO particles in the sample matrix. This provides additional nucleation sites and produces more ZnSb/NiO interfaces, which can initiate the nucleation and accelerate crystallization. The kinetic exponent n decreases from 1.12 to 0.44, which confirms the ultrafast one-dimensional growth and heterogeneous phase transition of the NiO-doped ZnSb films. The improved thermal stability, larger resistance ratio and direct transition to a stable phase with ultrafast one-dimensional crystal growth indicate the good potential of these materials in phase-change memory applications.