TY  - JOUR
AU  - Zhu, Min
AU  - Song, Wenxiong
AU  - Konze, Philipp M.
AU  - Li, Tao
AU  - Gault, Baptiste
AU  - Chen, Xin
AU  - Shen, Jiabin
AU  - Lv, Shilong
AU  - Song, Zhitang
AU  - Wuttig, Matthias
AU  - Dronskowski, Richard
TI  - Direct atomic insight into the role of dopants in phase-change materials
JO  - Nature Communications
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
SN  - 2041-1723
CY  - [London]
PB  - Nature Publishing Group UK
M1  - FZJ-2019-06519
SP  - 3525
PY  - 2019
AB  - Doping is indispensable to tailor phase-change materials (PCM) in optical and electronic data storage. Very few experimental studies, however, have provided quantitative information on the distribution of dopants on the atomic-scale. Here, we present atom-resolved images of Ag and In dopants in Sb2Te-based (AIST) PCM using electron microscopy and atom-probe tomography. Combing these with DFT calculations and chemical-bonding analysis, we unambiguously determine the dopants’ role upon recrystallization. Composition profiles corroborate the substitution of Sb by In and Ag, and the segregation of excessive Ag into grain boundaries. While In is bonded covalently to neighboring Te, Ag binds ionically. Moreover, In doping accelerates the crystallization and hence operation while Ag doping limits the random diffusion of In atoms and enhances the thermal stability of the amorphous phase.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - pmid:31388013
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000478867500010
DO  - DOI:10.1038/s41467-019-11506-0
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/867921
ER  -