Laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry of atomic switch memory Ge2Sb2Te5 bulk materials and its thin films

• Published in: Rapid communications in mass spectrometry Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 699 - 704
• Main Authors: Houška, Jan, Peña-Méndez, Eladia Maria, Kolář, Jakub, Přikryl, Jan, Pavlišta, Martin, Frumar, Miloslav, Wágner, Tomáš, Havel, Josef
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 15.04.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Alloys - chemistry; Antimony - chemistry; Germanium - chemistry; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Materials Testing; Plasma Gases - chemistry; Tellurium - chemistry
• ISSN: 0951-4198; 1097-0231
• DOI: 10.1002/rcm.6833

RATIONALE Although the structure of atomic switch Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) thin films is well established, the composition of the clusters formed in the plasma plume during pulsed‐laser deposition (PLD) is not known. Laser Desorption Ionization Time‐of‐Flight Mass Spectrometry (LDI‐TOF MS) is an effective method for the generation and study of clusters formed by laser ablation of various solids and thus for determining their structural fragments. METHODS LDI of bulk or PLD‐deposited GST thin layers and of various precursors (Ge, Sb, Te, and Ge‐Te or Sb‐Te mixtures) using a nitrogen laser (337 nm) was applied while the mass spectra were recorded in positive and negative ion modes using a TOF mass spectrometer equipped with a reflectron while the stoichiometry of the clusters formed was determined via isotopic envelope analysis. RESULTS The singly negatively or positively charged clusters identified from the LDI of GST were Ge, Ge2, GeTe, Ge2Te, Ten (n = 1–3), GeTe2, Ge2Te2, GeTe3, SbTe2, Sb2Te, GeSbTe2, Sb3Te and the low abundance ternary GeSbTe3, while the LDI of germanium telluride yielded GemTen+ clusters (m = 1–3, n = 1–3). Several minor Ge‐H clusters were also observed for pure germanium and for germanium telluride. Sbn clusters (n = 1–3) and the formation of binary TeSb, TeSb2 and TeSb3 clusters were detected when Sb2Te3 was examined. CONCLUSIONS This is the first report that elucidates the stoichiometry of GemSbnTep clusters formed in plasma when bulk or nano‐layers of GST material are ablated. The clusters were found to be fragments of the original structure. The results might facilitate the development of PLD technology for this memory phase‐change material. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.