Local structure origin of ultrafast crystallization driven by high-fidelity octahedral clusters in amorphous Sc0.2Sb2Te3
Abstract
Phase-change material Sc0.2Sb2Te3 (SST) can remarkably boost the writing speed of memory devices due to the extremely fast crystallization. It was reflected that the fast crystallization is because Sc stabilizes the 4-fold rings which act as precursors of nuclei in the amorphous phase. Here, by using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the local structures in the liquid and amorphous SST at various temperatures. The findings reveal that Sc-centered configurations are almost in the form of stable octahedral clusters, which enhances the local order of the amorphous phase. Different from Sb- and Te-centered clusters which have lower coordination numbers, Sc-centered clusters are mainly in high-coordinated octahedral structures. These Sc-centered octahedral clusters present a high stability in supercooled liquid and amorphous states, remarkably reducing the incubation time of nucleation and speeding up the crystallization. Our study reveals the role of Sc atoms in the liquid and amorphous structure, paving the way for the application of Sc-based phase-change memory.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[2];
[3];
- Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China)
- Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China); Key Lab. for Information Science of Electromagnetic Waves (MoE), Shanghai (China)
- Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology, Wuhan (China)
- Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1543901
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-07CH11358
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Applied Physics Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 114; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS
Citation Formats
Qiao, Chong, Guo, Y. R., Wang, S. Y., Xu, Ming, Miao, Xiangshui, Wang, C. Z., and Ho, K. M. Local structure origin of ultrafast crystallization driven by high-fidelity octahedral clusters in amorphous Sc0.2Sb2Te3. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.5085502.
Qiao, Chong, Guo, Y. R., Wang, S. Y., Xu, Ming, Miao, Xiangshui, Wang, C. Z., & Ho, K. M. Local structure origin of ultrafast crystallization driven by high-fidelity octahedral clusters in amorphous Sc0.2Sb2Te3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5085502
Qiao, Chong, Guo, Y. R., Wang, S. Y., Xu, Ming, Miao, Xiangshui, Wang, C. Z., and Ho, K. M. Wed .
"Local structure origin of ultrafast crystallization driven by high-fidelity octahedral clusters in amorphous Sc0.2Sb2Te3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5085502. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1543901.
@article{osti_1543901,
title = {Local structure origin of ultrafast crystallization driven by high-fidelity octahedral clusters in amorphous Sc0.2Sb2Te3},
author = {Qiao, Chong and Guo, Y. R. and Wang, S. Y. and Xu, Ming and Miao, Xiangshui and Wang, C. Z. and Ho, K. M.},
abstractNote = {Phase-change material Sc0.2Sb2Te3 (SST) can remarkably boost the writing speed of memory devices due to the extremely fast crystallization. It was reflected that the fast crystallization is because Sc stabilizes the 4-fold rings which act as precursors of nuclei in the amorphous phase. Here, by using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the local structures in the liquid and amorphous SST at various temperatures. The findings reveal that Sc-centered configurations are almost in the form of stable octahedral clusters, which enhances the local order of the amorphous phase. Different from Sb- and Te-centered clusters which have lower coordination numbers, Sc-centered clusters are mainly in high-coordinated octahedral structures. These Sc-centered octahedral clusters present a high stability in supercooled liquid and amorphous states, remarkably reducing the incubation time of nucleation and speeding up the crystallization. Our study reveals the role of Sc atoms in the liquid and amorphous structure, paving the way for the application of Sc-based phase-change memory.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5085502},
journal = {Applied Physics Letters},
number = 7,
volume = 114,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {2}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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