In situ monitoring of stress change in GeTe thin films during thermal annealing and crystallization

B. Ben Yahia , M.S. Amara , M. Gallard , N. Burle (1) , S. Escoubas (1) , C. Guichet (1) , Magali Putero (1) , C. Mocuta (2) , M.-I. Richard (1) , R. Chahine , C. Sabbione , M. Bernard (3, 4) , L. Fellouh , P. Noé (3) , O. Thomas (1)

1 IM2NP - Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence
2 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
3 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information
4 UGA [2016-2019] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019]

Stress changes in GeTe thin films on silicon have been studied in situ as a function of temperature by optical curvature measurements. Crystallization of the initially amorphous layers is evidenced by a steep tensile stress buildup. The crystallization temperature is shown to be thickness-dependent for the thinner films. Various annealing conditions, such as cooling/re-heating steps and isothermal stages, allow exploring the thermo-mechanical behavior of the films. A non-thermoelastic temperature-dependent behavior is observed in the amorphous phase before crystallization.

Mots clés: Phase-change materials; GeTe; Thin films; Stress measurements; Thermomechanical behaviour

Domaines: Matériaux

B. Ben Yahia, M.S. Amara, M. Gallard, N. Burle, S. Escoubas, et al.. In situ monitoring of stress change in GeTe thin films during thermal annealing and crystallization. Micro and Nano Engineering, 2018, ⟨10.1016/j.mne.2018.10.001⟩. ⟨hal-01951257⟩