Thermal- and Laser-Induced Order–Disorder Switching of Ag-Doped Fast-Growth Sb₇₀Te₃₀ Phase-Change Recording Films

Abstract

Doping Ag into the fast-growth Sb70Te30 recording film can increase the crystallization temperature and activation energy for crystallization so that the archival stability can be improved, however, the initialization will become more difficult. The activation energy for melting of the Ag-doped Sb70Te30 recording films will decrease with Ag concentration so that the recording sensitivity can also be improved. New compounds such as Ag5Te3 and AgSbTe2 will form due to the addition of Ag. When the concentration of Ag was increased, the crystallization mechanisms of the Ag-doped Sb70Te30 recording films will gradually transfer from polyhedral growth to linear growth. Under pulsed laser irradiation, the melt-quenched amorphous zone for the annealed Ag-doped Sb70Te30 recording films will enlarge as the Ag content was increased, representing that the recording sensitivity will increase. However, once the concentration of Ag was increased to 10.8 at. %, the as-deposited Ag-doped Sb70Te30 recording film will become difficult to be initialized.