Crystallization studies on phase-change optical recording media by use of a two-dimensional periodic mark array

We present the results of crystallization studies: in thin-film samples of amorphous and crystalline GexSbyTez. The experiments, conducted at moderately elevated temperatures, are based on measurements of the first-order diffraction efficiency from a two-dimensional periodic array of recorded marks. When the samples are slowly heated. above room temperature, changes in the efficiencies of various diffracted orders give information about the on-going crystallization process within the sample. Two different compositions of the GeSbTe alloy are used in these experiments. Measurements on Ge2Sb2.3Te5 films show crystallization dominated by nucleation. For the Sb-rich eutectic composition Ge-(SbTe), crystallization is found to be dominated by growth from crystalline boundaries. We also show that crystalline marks written by relatively high-power laser pulses are different in their optical properties from the regions crystallized by slow heating of the sample to moderate temperatures. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.