Y Doped Sb2Te3 Phase-Change Materials: Towards a Universal Memory.

The disadvantages of high power consumption and slow operating speed hinder the application of phase-change materials for a universal memory. In this work, based on rigorous experimental scheme, we synthesized a series of YxSb2-xTe3 (0≤x≤0.333) phase-change materials and demonstrated that Y0.25Sb1.75Te3 (YST) is an excellent candidate material for the universal phase-change memory. This YST phase-change material, even being integrated into a conventional T-shaped device, exhibits ultra-low reset power consumption of 1.3 pJ and a competitive fast set speed of 6 ns. The ultra-low power consumption is attributed to the Y reduced thermal and electrical conductivity, while the maintained crystal structure of Sb2Te3 and the grain refinement provide the competitive fast crystallization speed. This work highlights a novel way to obtain new phase-change materials with lower power consumption and competitive fast speed towards a universal memory.