Electrical switching and crystalline peak studies on Si20Te80-xSnx (1 ≤ x ≤ 7) chalcogenide bulk glasses

The Si20Te80-xSnx (1 <= x <= 7) glasses are synthesized using melt quenching technique. Result of X-ray diffraction (XRD) exhibits the non-crystallinity of the prepared samples. Depending on applied on state current, the synthesized Si20Te80-xSnx (1 <= x <= 7) samples show both threshold and memory type of behavior. The composition dependence of threshold voltage (V-th) displays a decrease in the Vth values. Further the composition and morphological studies are carried out using Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) and Electron microscopy (SEM). The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is used for crystalline peak studies. Using DSC, the crystallization temperature (Tc) of representative glass samples are found. The crystalline peak studies are carried out by annealing representative samples at their respective Tc for two hours to find different phases present in the samples. The SET-RESET studies are performed to find the applicability of the given material in phase change memory (PCM) applications.