On the photoinduced phase transition in (GeTe)n(Sb2Te3)m

2016/01/19 by S. M. Yakubenya, Yakubenya, S. M., А. S. Mishchenko +1
Engineering · Materials Science · #Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Phase-change materials and chalcogenides #Solid-state spectroscopy and crystallography

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1601.04982

openalex publication_date 2016/01/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We suggest a phenomenological description of the photo-conversion in Ge-Sb-Te phase-change memory alloys from amorphous to crystalline phase which explains why both photo-excitation and high temperatures T > 160C are required for the transition from hexagonal to tetrahedral phase. The position of chemical potential at high temperatures allows light induced inverse population of the nucleons of the crystalline phase which are not stable otherwise. Then, inverse population accumulates holes on neighboring Te and Ge ions and locks the photo-conversion transition by pushing Ge ions into the interstitial position to minimize the Coulomb repulsion energy.

Related

• An Investigation into the Kinetics and Mechanism of Phase Transitions in Optical Phase Change Ternary Alloy Ge₂Sb₂Te₅
• First-order rhombohedral to cubic phase transition in photoexcited GeTe
• Electronic transport in amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 phase-change memory line cells and its response to photoexcitation
• Crystallization Mechanism Tuned Phase-Change Materials: Quantum Effect on Te-Terminated Boundary
• Tunable Electronic Interactions and Weak Antilocalization in Bulk Ge₂Sb₂Te_5-5xSe_5x Phase Change Materials