Effects of dopants on the amorphous-to-fcc transition in Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films

The amorphous-to-crystal transition has been studied through in situ resistance measurements in Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films doped by ion implantation with nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine at different concentrations. Enhancement of the thermal stability has been observed in O and N amorphous doped Ge2Sb2Te5. Larger effects have been found in the case of nitrogen doping. On the contrary, doping with Fluorine produced a decrease in the crystallization temperature. The electrical properties have been related to the structural phase change through in situ transmission electron microscopy analysis. The comparison between undoped and doped Ge2Sb2Te5 shows that the introduction of oxygen or nitrogen modifies in a different way the kinetics of the amorphous-to-fcc transition and gives new insight on the effects of doping with light elements in GeSbTe alloys.