Ultrafast phase change speed and high thermal stability of scandium doped SnSb4 thin film for PCRAM applications.

• Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 thin films were prepared by SnSb 4 and Sc co-sputtering. • The thermal stability of Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 can meet the need of electric vehicle. • The reversible SET/RESET operations based on Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 is realized at 20ns. • The thermal stability of Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 derives from the formation of Sc-Sn bond. • The phase change speed is not deteriorated with the enhancement of thermal stability. To address the challenge of reconciling the trade-off between phase change speed and thermal stability in phase change materials, we synthesized Sc-doped SnSb 4 thin films with a composition of Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 and investigated their phase change properties. Our findings demonstrate that the Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 thin film exhibits enhanced thermal stability and faster phase change speed than Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5. The Sc-Sn bond formed during crystallization contributes to an improved data retention capability of up to 166 °C. Notably, the phase change speed of the Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 thin film on the basis of device test can reach up to 20 ns. Additionally, the power consumption of the Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 thin film (1.1 × 10−11 J) is nearly two orders of magnitude lower than that of Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 (9.7 × 10−10 J). These results provide compelling evidence that the Sn 22 Sb 76 Sc 2 thin film can overcome the "inverted relation" between high thermal stability and fast phase change speed, achieving a balanced performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]