Exploring local atomic arrangements in amorphous and metastable phase change materials with x-ray and neutron total scattering
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
Very little experimental work has conclusively explored the structural transformation between the amorphous and metastable crystalline phases of phase change chalcogenides. A recent flurry of theoretical work has supported likely mechanisms for the phase transition process in Ge-Sb-Te (GST) compositions and invigorated efforts at probing local atomic arrangements experimentally. The pair distribution function (PDF) formalism of total scattering data provides directly both local structure correlations at low real-space dimensions, and intermediate range order at higher length scales, a distinct advantage for following the relevant phase transition in phase change materials (PCM). A challenge facing the field is the difficulty in distinguishing separate peak contributions to pair correlation functions in amorphous and highly disordered samples. For example, various types of local order have been reported for Ge{sub x}Te{sub 1-x} phases, including both random mixtures and discrete structural units, and both 4-fold and 6-fold coordination around Ge. We describe our efforts in advancing capabilities for extracting and refining differential or partial pair distribution function data sets by combining neutron and x-ray total scattering, with extensions to isotopic substitution and anomalous x-ray scattering. Our results combining neutron and x-ray scattering for the Ge{sub x}Te{sub 1-x} series, for example, clearly distinguish Ge-Te and Te-Te contributions in nearest neighbor correlations. Presenting an additional challenge, phase change materials with fast switching speeds (those arguably of greatest technological interest) have stable bulk crystalline phases and do not readily form glasses until reduced to small dimensions. Thin film samples are inherently difficult to probe with conventional crystallographic methods. We demonstrate successful synchrotron x-ray total scattering experiments for PCM thin films with thicknesses between 100 nm and 1 um and describe how chemical short-range order and local bonding environments vary in amorphous, metastable and crystalline GeSb{sub 2}Te{sub 4} films. Total scattering methods for powders and thin films allow for a direct comparison of PCM properties (crystallization temperature, optical contrast between phases, phase change speed, etc.) with observed local structure and motivate further exploration into the atomic configurations enabling this fascinating class of materials.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1024375
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-10-02713; LA-UR-10-2713; TRN: US201119%%337
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: MRS Spring Meeting 2010 ; April 5, 2010 ; San Francisco, CA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
AMORPHOUS STATE
BONDING
CHALCOGENIDES
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
CRYSTALLIZATION
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE
MIXTURES
NEUTRONS
PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS
PROBES
REFINING
SCATTERING
SYNCHROTRONS
THIN FILMS
TRANSFORMATIONS
VELOCITY