Effects of transition-metal elements on tellurium alloys for reversible optical-data storage

Abstract

Tellurium-based alloys are being applied to phase-change, reversible optical-data storage. In order to improve the disk performances, research efforts have been concentrated on increasing the erase speed (crystallization rate) while maintaining good film stability. We report, for the first time, that certain transition-metal elements added to Te-alloy films can substantially improve the rate of crystallization without any reduction of the amorphous-phase stability.