Amorphous Ge₈Sb₉₂ thin films with various thicknesses were deposited by magnetron sputtering. The crystallization kinetics and optical properties of the Ge₈Sb₉₂ thin films and related scaling effects were investigated by an in situ thermally induced method and an optical technique. With a decrease in film thickness, the crystallization temperature, crystallization activation energy and data retention ability increased significantly. The changed crystallization behavior may be ascribed to the smaller grain size and larger surface-to-volume ratio as the film thickness decreased. Regardless of whether the state was amorphous or crystalline, the film resistance increased remarkably as the film thickness decreased to 3 nm. The optical band gap calculated from the reflection spectra increases distinctly with a reduction in film thickness. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that the scaling of the Ge₈Sb₉₂ thin film can inhibit the crystallization process and reduce the grain size. The values of exponent indices that were obtained indicate that the crystallization mechanism experiences a series of changes with scaling of the film thickness. The crystallization time was estimated to determine the scaling effect on the phase change speed. The scaling effect on the electrical switching performance of a phase change memory cell was also determined. The current–voltage and resistance–voltage characteristics indicate that phase change memory cells based on a thinner Ge₈Sb₉₂ film will exhibit a higher threshold voltage, lower RESET operational voltage and greater pulse width, which implies higher thermal stability, lower power consumption and relatively lower switching velocity.

中文翻译：

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相变存储用锗锑薄膜的结晶特性和结垢行为

通过磁控溅射沉积具有各种厚度的非晶Ge ₈ Sb ₉₂薄膜。通过原位研究了Ge ₈ Sb ₉₂薄膜的结晶动力学和光学性质以及相关的结垢效应。热诱导方法和光学技术。随着膜厚度的减小，结晶温度，结晶活化能和数据保持能力显着提高。改变的结晶行为可以归因于随着膜厚度减小的较小的晶粒尺寸和较大的表面积/体积比。无论状态是非晶态还是结晶态，随着膜厚减小至3 nm，膜电阻均显着增加。由反射光谱计算出的光学带隙随着膜厚度的减小而明显增加。X射线衍射图证实了Ge ₈ Sb ₉₂的结垢薄膜可以抑制结晶过程并减小晶粒尺寸。所获得的指数值表明结晶机制随着膜厚度的缩放而经历一系列变化。估计结晶时间以确定对相变速度的水垢效应。还确定了对相变存储单元的电开关性能的缩放效应。电流-电压和电阻-电压特性表明，基于更薄的Ge ₈ Sb ₉₂膜的相变存储单元将表现出更高的阈值电压，更低的RESET工作电压和更大的脉冲宽度，这意味着更高的热稳定性，更低的功耗和功耗。相对较低的开关速度。