Enhanced thermal efficiency for amorphization in nano-structured Ge2Sb2Te5-TiOx films

Abstract

The dynamics of the melt-quenched amorphization in TiOx mixed Ge2Sb2Te5 films were studied using real-time reflectivity measurements with a nanosecond laser pulse and various amounts of TiOx. It was observed that the laser-power required for amorphization was significantly reduced by 27% when 9.1 mol% of TiOx was incorporated with Ge2Sb2Te5. The lowering of the thermal conductivity of the films, due to the increase in the number of interface between the Ge2Sb2Te5 and TiOx phases, led to an increase in the thermal efficiency. Such enhanced thermal efficiency is of great technological importance in phase change storage applications. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.