Novel applications of ZnTe as an ovonic threshold switching and as a phase change material

Observation of ovonic threshold switching (OTS) behavior in ZnTe attracted attention to this material as a replacement to GeAsSeTe alloy currently used for the OTS selector devices in the non-volatile memory. However, only ZnTe films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering were studied. Here, we extended the study of this material to ZnTe films grown using Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). As a conformal growth technique, ALD is much more suitable for memory devices. We determined that, in addition to threshold switching, ALD-deposited ZnTe films can undergo high-speed non-volatile phase change. Such dual behavior of ZnTe expands potential applications of this material. It opens the opportunity to use ZnTe both for OTS selector elements and phase change memory elements greatly simplifying fabrication of memory devices. Graphical abstract