The Relationship between Electron Transport and Microstructure in Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) Alloy

Phase-change random-access memory (PCRAM) holds great promise for next-generation information storage applications. As a mature phase change material, Ge(2)Sb(2)Te(5) alloy (GST) relies on the distinct electrical properties of different states to achieve information storage, but there are relatively few studies on the relationship between electron transport and microstructure. In this work, we found that the first resistance dropping in GST film is related to the increase of carrier concentration, in which the atomic bonding environment changes substantially during the crystallization process. The second resistance dropping is related to the increase of carrier mobility. Besides, during the cubic to the hexagonal phase transition, the nanograins grow significantly from ~50 nm to ~300 nm, which reduces the carrier scattering effect. Our study lays the foundation for precisely controlling the storage states of GST-based PCRAM devices.