ABSTRACT
Pulsed laser deposition technique was used for the fabrication of Ge-Te rich GeTe-Sb2Te3 (Ge6Sb2Te9, Ge8Sb2Te11, Ge10Sb2Te13, and Ge12Sb2Te15) amorphous thin films. To evaluate the influence of GeTe content in the deposited films on physico-chemical properties of the GST materials, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction and reflectometry, atomic force microscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy, optical reflectivity, and sheet resistance temperature dependences as well as variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements were used to characterize as-deposited (amorphous) and annealed (crystalline) layers. Upon crystallization, optical functions and electrical resistance of the films change drastically, leading to large optical and electrical contrast between amorphous and crystalline phases. Large changes of optical/electrical properties are accompanied by the variations of thickness, density, and roughness of the films due to crystallization. Reflectivity contrast as high as ~0.21 at 405 nm was calculated for Ge8Sb2Te11, Ge10Sb2Te13, and Ge12Sb2Te15 layers.
ABSTRACT
Amorphous thin films from Ge-As-Te system were prepared by pulsed laser deposition to study their intrinsic photostability, morphology, chemical composition, structure and optical properties. Photostability of fabricated layers was studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry within as-deposited as well as relaxed (annealed) layers. For irradiation, laser sources operating at three wavelengths in band gap region of the studied materials were employed. The results show that lowest values of photorefraction accompanied with lowest changes of band gap values were exhibited by Ge20As20Te60 thin films, which are therefore considered as the layers with highest photostability in relaxed state. The structure of the films is discussed based on Raman scattering spectroscopy data.
