THE STRUCTURE AND CRYSTALLIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PHASE-CHANGE OPTICAL DISK MATERIAL GE1SB2TE4

The crystallization characteristics of amorphous Ge1Sb2Te4 thin films were studied by means of time-resolved transition measurements. It was found that a metastable phase appeared at the first stage of the crystallization process and then the metastable phase was transformed into a stable crystalline phase at higher annealing temperatures. The x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results indicated the metastable phase was identified as a face-centered-cubic structure and the stable crystalline phase corresponded to a hexagonal structure. Our experimental results show that the Ge1Sb2Te4 materials are applicable for phase change erasable optical storage. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.