Crystallization behavior of sputter-deposited amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films

The crystallization behavior of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry, x-ray diffraction, and optical reflectivity measurements. The analysis of in situ ellipsometry isotherm Ge2Sb2Te5 films based on the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation revealed that the crystallization process near 150 °C was a two-step process. In this alloy thin film, the kinetic exponents in the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation were about 4.4 for the first stage and 1.1 for the second stage. A kinetic model based on the cascaded crystallization is proposed. The proposed model showed good agreement with the experimental results obtained by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction.