Nano-scale gap filling and mechanism of deposit-etch-deposit process for phase-change material

Ge2Sb2Te5 gap filling is one of the key processes for phase-change random access memory manufacture.Physical vapor deposition is the mainstream method of Ge2Sb2Te5 film deposition due to its advantages of film quality,purity,and accurate composition control.However,the conventional physical vapor deposition process cannot meet the gapfilling requirement with the critical device dimension scaling down to 90 nm or below.In this study,we find that the deposit-etch-deposit process shows better gap-filling capability and scalability than the single-step deposition process,especially at the nano-scale critical dimension.The gap-filling mechanism of the deposit-etch-deposit process was briefly discussed.We also find that re-deposition of phase-change material from via the sidewall to via the bottom by argon ion bombardment during the etch step was a key ingredient for the final good gap filling.We achieve void-free gap filling of phase-change material on the 45-nm via the two-cycle deposit-etch-deposit process.We gain a rather comprehensive insight into the mechanism of deposit-etch-deposit process and propose a potential gap-filling solution for over 45-nm technology nodes for phase-change random access memory.     

Thermal effect of Ge_2Sb_2Te_5 in phase change memory device

The properties of Raman phonons are very important due to the fact that they can availably reflect some important physical information. An abnormal Raman peak is observed at about 558 cm-1in In film composed of In/InOx core–shell structured nanoparticles, and the phonon mode stays very stable when the temperature changes. Our results indicate that this Raman scattering is attributed to the existence of incomplete indium oxide in the oxide shell.