Crystallization times of Ge-Te phase change materials as a function of composition

The crystallization times of Ge-Te phase change materials with variable Ge concentrations (29.5-72.4 at. %) were studied. A very strong dependence of the crystallization time on the composition for as-deposited, amorphous films was confirmed, with a minimum for the stoichiometric composition GeTe. The dependence is weaker for melt-quenched, amorphous material and crystallization times are between one to almost four orders of magnitude shorter than for as-deposited materials. This is promising for applications because recrystallization from the melt-quenched phase is the relevant process for optical and solid state memory, and fast crystallization and weak dependence on compositional variations are desirable. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.