Sub-nanometre resolution of atomic motion during electronic excitation in phase-change materials

Mitrofanov, Kirill V.; Fons, Paul; Makino, Kotaro; Terashima, Ryo; Shimada, Toru; Kolobov, Alexander V.; Tominaga, Junji; Bragaglia, Valeria; Giussani, Alessandro; Calarco, Raffaella; Riechert, Henning; Sato, Takahiro; Katayama, Tetsuo; Ogawa, Kanade; Togashi, Tadashi; Yabashi, Makina; Wall, Simon; Brewe, Dale; Hase, Muneaki

doi:10.1038/srep20633

Title: Sub-nanometre resolution of atomic motion during electronic excitation in phase-change materials

Journal Article · Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep20633· OSTI ID:1253632

Mitrofanov, Kirill V. ^[1]; Fons, Paul ^[2]; Makino, Kotaro ^[3]; Terashima, Ryo ^[4]; Shimada, Toru ^[5]; Kolobov, Alexander V. ^[6]; Tominaga, Junji ^[3]; Bragaglia, Valeria ^[7]; Giussani, Alessandro ^[7]; Calarco, Raffaella ^[7]; Riechert, Henning ^[7]; Sato, Takahiro ^[8]; Katayama, Tetsuo ^[9]; Ogawa, Kanade ^[8]; Togashi, Tadashi ^[9]; Yabashi, Makina ^[8]; Wall, Simon ^[10]; Brewe, Dale ^[11]; Hase, Muneaki ^[12]

National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto (Japan)
National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto (Japan); Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Kouto (Japan)
National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)
Univ. of Tsukuba (Japan)
Hirosaki Univ. (Japan)
National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Kouto (Japan)
Paul-Drude-Institut fur Festkorperelektronik, Berlin (Germany)
RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto (Japan)
Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Kouto (Japan)
The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona (Spain)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). X-ray Science Division
National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Univ. of Tsukuba (Japan); RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Kouto (Japan)

Phase-change materials based on Ge-Sb-Te alloys are widely used in industrial applications such as nonvolatile memories, but reaction pathways for crystalline-to-amorphous phase-change on picosecond timescales remain unknown. Femtosecond laser excitation and an ultrashort x-ray probe is used to show the temporal separation of electronic and thermal effects in a long-lived (>100 ps) transient metastable state of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ with muted interatomic interaction induced by a weakening of resonant bonding. Due to a specific electronic state, the lattice undergoes a reversible nondestructive modification over a nanoscale region, remaining cold for 4 ps. An independent time-resolved x-ray absorption fine structure experiment confirms the existence of an intermediate state with disordered bonds. Furthermore, this newly unveiled effect allows the utilization of non-thermal ultra-fast pathways enabling artificial manipulation of the switching process, ultimately leading to a redefined speed limit, and improved energy efficiency and reliability of phase-change memory technologies.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1253632

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 28 works

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Mapping the band structure of GeSbTe phase change alloys around the Fermi level Kellner, Jens Fabian; Bihlmayer, G.; Liebmann, Marcus RWTH Aachen University https://doi.org/10.18154/rwth-2018-225393	text	January 2018
Insights into the physics and chemistry of chalcogenides obtained from x-ray absorption spectroscopy Kolobov, Alexander V.; Fons, Paul Semiconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 32, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6641/aa9170	journal	October 2017
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