SAFC Hitech(TM) Successfully Demonstrates Device-Quality GST Precursors For Phase Change Memory Ap...( ST. LOUIS Sept. 4 /- SAFC Hitech(...)

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAFC Hitech(TM), a focus area within SAFC(R), a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group (Nasdaq: SIAL), today announced that it has made significant progress in developing Germanium Antimony Telluride (Ge(x)Sb(y)Te(z) or GST) precursors for use in high volume manufacturing phase change memory (PCM) applications. Extensive development work has been conducted with both the precursors and with the use of conventional Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) techniques to deposit them, resulting in the successful deposition of device-quality GST. These advances represent a major step towards achieving a commercially-viable solution to address the aggressive memory device scaling issues faced by the semiconductor industry to keep pace with Moore's Law.

PCM, a non-volatile computer memory, takes advantage of the unique behavioral properties of chalcogenide compounds to enable scaling of ultimate feature size further than is possible with conventional Flash memories(1). This translates to greater storage capacity and superior performance for memory devices. Chalcogenide compounds, such as GST, are very attractive materials for PCM and have already been used as the basis for optical storage media and prototype PCM devices.

"Until now, PCM materials have generally been deposited by sputtering or other Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) techniques, which are line of sight methods and have inherent weaknesses relating to uniformity of deposition," commented SAFC Hitech Chief Technology Officer, Ravi Kanjolia. "Vapor phase deposition techniques, such as MOCVD, offer several advantages in relation to GST precursors, in particular, a better step coverage for deposition on patterned substrates, in
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