[Springer Series in Materials Science] Chalcogenides Volume 164 || Photo-Induced Change of the Phase State

✍ Scribed by Kolobov, Alexander V.; Tominaga, Junji

• Book ID: 119962418
• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 638 KB
• Edition: 3
• Category: Article
• ISBN: 3642287050
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-28705-3_6

✦ Synopsis

A state-of-the-art description of metastability observed in chalcogenide alloys is presented with the accent on the underlying physics. A comparison is made between sulphur(selenium)-based chalcogenide glasses, where numerous photo-induced phenomena take place entirely within the amorphous phase, and tellurides where a reversible crystal-to-amorphous phase-change transformation is a major effect. Applications of metastability in devices¿optical memories and nonvolatile electronic phase-change random-access memories among others are discussed, including the latest trends. Background material essential for understanding current research in the field is also provided.