TY - JOUR
T1 - Evolution of crystalline microstructure in GeTe thin films for optical storage applications
AU - Libera, M.
PY - 1994
Y1 - 1994
N2 - The bit-erase process in phase-change optical storage is based on the amorphous to crystalline transformation. While there has been significant progress developing compositions and multilayered media for phase-change applications, quantitative studies of the crystallization kinetics and microstructural development are generally lacking. This paper describes work quantifying crystallization in GeTe thin films. Microstructural changes during isothermal annealing are measured using in-situ hot-stage optical microscopy. This technique measures the fraction crystallized, the number of crystallites, and crystallite radii as a function of time. These data are sufficient to deconvolute the individual contributions of nucleation and growth. We find anAvrami exponent of approximately 4, consistent with time-resolved reflection/transmission studies. This exponent is due to 2-D growth at a constant rate plus transient nucleation. The data are used in a kinetic model to simulate non-isothermal crystallization during focused-laser heating characteristic of the bit-erase process.
AB - The bit-erase process in phase-change optical storage is based on the amorphous to crystalline transformation. While there has been significant progress developing compositions and multilayered media for phase-change applications, quantitative studies of the crystallization kinetics and microstructural development are generally lacking. This paper describes work quantifying crystallization in GeTe thin films. Microstructural changes during isothermal annealing are measured using in-situ hot-stage optical microscopy. This technique measures the fraction crystallized, the number of crystallites, and crystallite radii as a function of time. These data are sufficient to deconvolute the individual contributions of nucleation and growth. We find anAvrami exponent of approximately 4, consistent with time-resolved reflection/transmission studies. This exponent is due to 2-D growth at a constant rate plus transient nucleation. The data are used in a kinetic model to simulate non-isothermal crystallization during focused-laser heating characteristic of the bit-erase process.
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U2 - 10.1557/proc-343-89
DO - 10.1557/proc-343-89
M3 - Conference article
AN - SCOPUS:0028565928
SN - 0272-9172
VL - 343
SP - 89
EP - 100
JO - Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings
JF - Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings
T2 - Proceedings of the 1994 MRS Spring Meeting
Y2 - 4 April 1994 through 8 April 1994
ER -