Simultaneous calorimetric and quick-EXAFS measurements to study the crystallization process in phase-change materials

J Synchrotron Radiat. 2012 Sep;19(Pt 5):806-13. doi: 10.1107/S090904951202612X. Epub 2012 Jul 7.

Abstract

A Calvet-type differential scanning calorimeter has been implemented on a synchrotron beamline devoted to X-ray absorption spectroscopy. As a case study, the complex crystallization process in amorphous Ge(15)Sb(85) phase-change material is followed by simultaneous calorimetric and quick-EXAFS measurements. A first crystallization at 514(1) K is related to the crystallization of an Sb-rich phase accompanied by segregation of Ge atoms. Upon further heating, the as-formed amorphous Ge regions crystallize at 604(1) K. A quantitative analysis of the latent heat allows a Ge(11)Sb(89) stoichiometry to be proposed for the first crystallized phase.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't