Berlin 2015 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 36: Poster Session I

DS 36.3: Poster

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 09:30–12:00, Poster A

The maximum crystal growth velocity of phase-change materials — Peter Zalden², •Alexander von Hoegen¹, Aaron Lindenberg², and Matthias Wuttig¹ — ¹1. Physikalisches Institut (IA), RWTH Aachen University, 52066 Aachen, Germany — ²Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

The crystallization process is the time limiting step in the switching cycle of a phase-change memory device (PCRAM). We present a technique to determine crystal growth velocities of amorphous thin films over a wide temperature range. It is based on the repetitive excitation of the glass with femtosecond optical pulses and probing the transient optical reflectivity. Due to the fast cooling rate,this technique allows reaching the supercooled liquid state up to the melting point of the corresponding crystalline phase. For the phase-change material Ag₄In₃Sb₆₇Te₂₆ (AIST) we obtain a maximum crystal growth velocity of more than 100 m/s and are able to probe it up to the melting temperature. The resulting data contains additional information about the glass transition and the kinetic fragility.