Ultrafast Ge-Te bond dynamics in a phase-change superlattice

Malvestuto M, Caretta A, Casarin B, Cilento F, Dell'Angela M, Fausti D, Calarco R, Kooi BJ, Varesi E, Robertson J, Parmigiani F (2016)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Book Volume: 94

Article Number: 094310

Journal Issue: 9

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.94.094310

Abstract

A long-standing question for avant-garde data storage technology concerns the nature of the ultrafast photoinduced phase transformations in the wide class of chalcogenide phase-change materials (PCMs). Overall, a comprehensive understanding of the microstructural evolution and the relevant kinetics mechanisms accompanying the out-of-equilibrium phases is still missing. Here, after overheating a phase-change chalcogenide superlattice by an ultrafast laser pulse, we indirectly track the lattice relaxation by time resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy (tr-XAS) with a sub-ns time resolution. The approach to the tr-XAS experimental results reported in this work provides an atomistic insight of the mechanism that takes place during the cooling process; meanwhile a first-principles model mimicking the microscopic distortions accounts for a straightforward representation of the observed dynamics. Finally, we envisage that our approach can be applied in future studies addressing the role of dynamical structural strain in PCMs.

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APA:

Malvestuto, M., Caretta, A., Casarin, B., Cilento, F., Dell'Angela, M., Fausti, D.,... Parmigiani, F. (2016). Ultrafast Ge-Te bond dynamics in a phase-change superlattice. Physical Review B, 94(9). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.094310

MLA:

Malvestuto, Marco, et al. "Ultrafast Ge-Te bond dynamics in a phase-change superlattice." Physical Review B 94.9 (2016).

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