Phase change material and methods of forming the phase change material

1. A phase change material, comprising:

at least two portions of a chalcogenide compound material, a first portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprising a greater amount of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen than a second portion, the first portion comprising greater than or equal to about 5 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.

2. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the chalcogenide compound material comprises a chalcogen ion selected from the group consisting of oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and polonium and at least one electropositive element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, silicon, nickel, gallium, germanium, arsenic, silver, indium, tin, antimony, gold, lead, and bismuth.

3. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the chalcogenide compound material comprises an empirical formula of Ge x Sb 100-(x+y) Te y , wherein x ranges from approximately 5 atomic percent to approximately 60 atomic percent and y ranges from approximately 20 atomic percent to approximately 70 atomic percent.

4. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the chalcogenide compound material is adhered to a dielectric material.

5. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprises from greater than or equal to about 5 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen to less than or equal to about 8 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.

6. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprises less than about 4 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.

7. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the second portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprises approximately 2.5 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.

8. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the chalcogenide compound material and the second portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprise a substantially heterogeneous phase change material.

9. The phase change material of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the chalcogenide compound material comprises a thickness of from approximately 10 angstroms to approximately 100 angstroms.

10. A phase change random access memory device, comprising:

an electrode within a dielectric material, a phase change material in contact with the electrode and the dielectric material, and another electrode in contact with the phase change material, wherein the phase change material comprises at least two portions, the portion of the phase change material in contact with the dielectric material comprising a greater nitrogen or oxygen content than the other of the at least two portions of the phase change material.

11. The phase change random access memory device of claim 10 , wherein the portion of the phase change material in contact with the dielectric material comprises at least about 5 atomic percent of nitrogen or oxygen.

12. The phase change random access memory device of claim 10 , wherein a fracture energy between the phase change material and the dielectric material is at least about 0.94 J/m 2 .

13. The phase change random access memory device of claim 10 , wherein a fracture energy between the phase change material and the dielectric material is at least about 1.5 J/m 2 .

14. The phase change random access memory device of claim 10 , wherein a fracture energy between the phase change material and the dielectric material is at least about 2.0 J/m 2 .

15. A semiconductor structure, comprising:

a phase change material formed on a dielectric material, the phase change material comprising at least two portions, wherein one of the two portions directly contacts the dielectric material and comprises a higher percentage of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen than the other of the at least two portions of the phase change material.

16. A method of forming a phase change material, comprising:

forming a chalcogenide compound material on a substrate, the chalcogenide compound material comprising a first portion comprising greater than or equal to about 5 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen and a second portion comprising a lower percentage of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen than the first portion.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein forming a chalcogenide compound material on a substrate comprises depositing the chalcogenide compound material by physical vapor deposition.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein depositing the chalcogenide compound material by physical vapor deposition comprises depositing the chalcogenide compound material in the presence of at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein forming a chalcogenide compound material on a substrate comprises implanting at least one of nitrogen and oxygen into a portion of the chalcogenide compound material.

20. A method of forming a phase change material, comprising:

positioning a substrate comprising a dielectric material in a deposition chamber;

generating a plasma in the deposition chamber;

introducing at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas into the deposition chamber;

forming a first phase change material on the dielectric material, the first phase change material comprising an amount of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen; and

forming a second phase change material on the first phase change material, the first phase change material comprising a greater amount of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen than the second phase change material.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein introducing at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas into the deposition chamber comprises introducing the at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas into the deposition chamber at a flow rate of from 0 sccm to at least 5 sccm.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein forming a first phase change material on the dielectric material comprises introducing from greater than about 1 sccm to about 5 sccm of the at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas into the deposition chamber.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein forming a second phase change material on the first phase change material comprises introducing at least one of nitrogen gas and oxygen gas into the deposition chamber at a flow rate of less than about 1 sccm.

24. The method of claim 20 , wherein forming a first phase change material comprises forming a phase change material comprising greater than or equal to about 5 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.

25. The method of claim 20 , wherein forming a second phase change material comprises forming a phase change material comprising less than about 4 atomic percent of at least one of nitrogen and oxygen.