CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS OF IN-TE ALLOY-FILMS FOR OPTICAL-RECORDING

The crystallization process of sputtered InTe alloy films was studied in detail using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) in order to determine if the alloy can be used as a phase-change type optical recording material. The crystallization process is well described by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (JMA) equation. In a 50-60 at.% TeIn alloy system, good material characteristics were obtained, that is, a high crystallization temperature above 250°C, a high activation energy of more than 3.0 eV and a frequency factor of more than 1030 s-1. The exponent n varied from 1.5 to 3 in these compositions. An incubation time was also observed in the present experiments. In addition to studying these material characteristics, the crystallization speed was estimated with a static write-erase tester using semiconductor laser irradiation. It was found that the incubation time greatly influences high speed crystallization. © 1990.