• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.42 no.5 s.276
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• pp.326-332
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• 2005

Phase transformation effects on mechanical properties of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$, which is a promising candidate material for Phase Change Random Access Memory (PRAM), were studied. $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ thin films, which was thermally annealed with different conditions, were analyzed using XRD, AFM, 4-point probe method and reflectance measurement. As the temperature and the dwelling time increased, crystallity and grain size increased, which enhanced elastic modulus and hardness. Furthermore, N2 doping, which was used for better electrical properties, was proved to decrease elastic modulus and hardness of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.223-226
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• 2008

$Ge_1Se_1Te_2$ chalcogenide amorphous materials was prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. Samples were processed bye-beam evaporator systems and RF-sputtering systems. Phase change characteristics were analyzed by measuring glassification temperature, crystallization temperature and density of bulk material. The thermal characteristics were measured at the temperature between 300 K and 700 K, and the electrical characteristics were studied within the range from 0 V to 3 V. The obtained results agree with the electrothermal model for Phase-Change Random Access Memory.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.404-409
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• 2011

An amorphous $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ thin film is one of the most commonly used materials for phase-change data storage. In this study, $Au_x(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}$ thin film amorphous-to-crystalline phase-change rate were evaluated in using 658 nm laser beam. The focused laser beam with a diameter <10 ${\mu}m$ was illuminated in the power (P) and pulse duration (t) ranges of 1-17 mW and 10-460 ns, respectively, with subsequent detection of the responsive signals reflected from the film surface. We also evaluated the material characteristics, such as optical absorption and energy gap, crystalline phases, and sheet resistance of as-deposited and annealed films. The result of experiments showed that the thermal stability of the $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ film is largely improved by adding Au.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.128-133
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• 2008

Phase-change random access memory (PRAM) chip cell phase of amorphous state is rapidly changed to crystal state above 160 Celsius degree within several seconds during Infrared (IR) reflow. Thus, on-board programming method is considered for PRAM chip programming. We demonstrated the functional 512Mb PRAM with 90nm technology using several novel core circuits, such as metal-2 line based global row decoding scheme, PN-diode cells based BL discharge (BLDIS) scheme, and PMOS switch based column decoding scheme. The reverse-state standby current of each PRAM cell is near 10 pA range. The total leak current of 512Mb PRAM chip in standby mode on discharging state can be more than 5 mA. Thus in the proposed BLDIS control, all bitlines (BLs) are in floating state in standby mode, then in active mode, the activated BLs are discharged to low level in the early timing of the active period by the short pulse BLDIS control timing operation. In the conventional sense amplifier, the simultaneous switching activation timing operation invokes the large coupling noise between the VSAREF node and the inner amplification nodes of the sense amplifiers. The coupling noise at VSAREF degrades the sensing voltage margin of the conventional sense amplifier. The merit of the proposed sense amplifier is almost removing the coupling noise at VSAREF from sharing with other sense amplifiers.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.20 no.6 s.96
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• pp.62-69
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• 2005

세계 최고 권위의 반도체 시장 조사기관인 Gartner Dataquest는 2004년 세계 메모리시장 규모는 480억 달러로 2003년의 335억 달러 대비 43% 성장하였다고 보고하고있다[1]. 또한 DRAM은 55%, 플래시 메모리는 35%를 차지하고 있으며, 이들 두 메모리가 전체 메모리 시장을 양분하고 있다[1]. DRAM은 cost 및 random access가 가능하다는 장점을 가지고 있지만 휘발성이라는 단점을 가지고 있으며, 플래시 메모리는cost 및 비휘발성의 장점을 보유하고 있으나 random access가 불가능하다는 단점을 보유하고 있다. 하지만, PRAM은 DRAM과 플래시 메모리의 장점만을 융합한 통합형메모리로서, 현재 가장 각광받고 있으며 양산화에 가장 근접한 메모리이다. 본 고에서는 PRAM의 구조 및 동작특성, 개발동향 및 향후 전망에 대해 논의하고자 한다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.166-166
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• 2007

PRAM (phase-change random access memory)은 전류 펄스 인가에 따른 기록매질의 비정질-결정질 간 상변화와 그에 동반되는 저항변화를 이용하는 차세대 비휘발성 메모리 소자로서 연구되어지고 있다. 본 논문에서는 $(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}Se_x$ (x=0,0.05,0.1,0.15) 조성에 대한 벌크 및 박막시료를 제작하고 각 조성에 대한 상변화 특성을 분석하였다. XRD를 통해 열처리 온도에 따른 구조적 분석을 실시하였고 UV-Vis-IR spectrophotometer를 사용하여 박막의 광학적 특성을 분석하였다. 또한 각 조성의 결정화 속도를 비교하기 위해 static tester를 사용하여 레이저 펄스 시간에 대한 반사도 변화를 측정하였고 DSC를 통해 결정화 온도를 측정하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.21-22
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• 2008

In the paper, we report several experimental data capable of evaluating the phase transformation characteristics of $Ag_x(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}$ (x =0, 0.05, 0.1) thin films. The $Ag_x(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}$ phase change thin films have been prepared by thermal evaporation. The crystallization characteristics of amorphous$Ag_x(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}$ thin films were investigated by using nano-pulse scanner with 658 nm laser diode (power; 1~17 mW, pulse duration; 10~460 ns) and XRD measurement. It was found that the more Ag is doped, the more crystallization speed was 50 improved. In comparision with $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ thin film, the sheet resistance$(R_{amor})$ of the amorphous $Ag_x(Ge_2Sb_2Te_5)_{1-x}$ thin films were found to be lager than that of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ film($R_{amor}$ $\sim10^7\Omega/\square$ and $R_{cryst}$ 10 $\Omega/\square$). That is, the ratio of $R_{amor}/R_{cryst}$ was evaluates to be $\sim10^6$ This is very helpful to writing current reduction of phase-change random acess memory.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2010

The crystallization speed (v) of amorphous (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) (x = 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) films and their thermal, optical and electrical behaviors have been investigated using nano-pulse scanner (wavelength = 658 nm, laser beam diameter < 2 ${\mu}m$), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 4-point probe and UV-vis-IR spectrophotometer. These results were compared with those of $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$ (GST) film, comprehensively utilized for phase-change random access memory (PRAM). Both v-value and thermal stability of (InTe)$_{0.1}$(GeTe) and (InTe)$_{0.3}$(GeTe) films could be enhanced in comparison with those of the GST. Contrarily, the v-value in the (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film was so drastically deteriorated that we could not quantitatively evaluate it. This deterioration is thought because amorphous (InTe)$_{0.5}$(GeTe) film has relatively high reflectance, resulting in too low absorption to cause the crystallization. Conclusively, it could be thought that a proper compositional (InTe)$_x$(GeTe) films (e.g., x < 0.3) may be good candidates with both high crystallization speed and thermal stability for PRAM application.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.132-132
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• 2011

For the programming volume of PRAM, Ge2Sb2Te5(GST) thin films have been dominantly used and prepared by physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD). Among these methods, ALD is particularly considered as the most promising technique for the integration of PRAM because the ALD offers a superior conformality to PVD and CVD methods and a digital thickness control precisely to the atomic level since the film is deposited one atomic layer at a time. Meanwhile, although the IST has been already known as an optical data storage material, recently, it is known that the IST benefits multistate switching behavior, meaning that the IST-PRAM can be used for mutli-level coding, which is quite different and unique performance compared with the GST-PRAM. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate a possibility of the IST materials for the application of PRAM. So far there are many attempts to deposit the IST with MOCVD and PVD. However, it has not been reported that the IST can be deposited with the ALD method since the ALD reaction mechanism of metal organic precursors and the deposition parameters related with the ALD window are rarely known. Therefore, the main aim of this work is to demonstrate the ALD process for IST films with various precursors and the conformal filling of a nano size programming volume structure with the ALD?IST film for the integration. InSbTe (IST) thin films were deposited by ALD method with different precursors and deposition parameters and demonstrated conformal filling of the nano size programmable volume of cell structure for the integration of phase change random access memory (PRAM). The deposition rate and incubation time are 1.98 A/cycle and 25 cycle, respectively. The complete filling of nano size volume will be useful to fabricate the bottom contact type PRAM.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.351-361
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• 2007

The samples composed of a GST thin film and the protective layers of $ZnS-SiO_2$ or $Al_2O_3$ coated on c-Si substrate were prepared by using the magnetron sputtering method. Samples of three different structures were prepared, that is, i) the GST single film on c-Si substrate, ii) the GST film sandwiched by the protective $ZnS-SiO_2$ layers on c-Si substrate, and iii) the GST film sandwiched by $Al_2O_3$ protective layers on c-Si substrate. The ellipsometric constants in the temperature range from room temperature to $700^{\circ}C$ were obtained by using the in-situ ellipsometer equipped with a conventional heating chamber. The measured ellipsometric constants show strong variations versus temperature. The variation of ellipsometric constants at the temperature region higher than $300^{\circ}C$ shows different behaviors as the ambient medium is changed from in air to in vacuum or the protective layers are changed from $ZnS-SiO_2$ to $Al_2O_3$. Since the long heating time of 1-2 hours is believed to be the origin of the high temperature variation of ellipsometric constants upon the heating environment and the protective layers, a PRAM (Phase-Change Random Access Memory) recorder is introduced to reduce the heating time drastically. By using the PRAM recorder, the GST samples are heated up to $700^{\circ}C$ decomposed preventing its partial evaporation or chemical reactions with adjacent protective layers. The surface image obtained by SEM and the surface micro-roughness verified by AFM also confirmed that samples prepared by the PRAM recorder have smoother surface than the samples prepared by using the conventional heater.