Crystallization of SbTe Phase Change Optical Films

The aim of this work was to investigate the crystallization properties and crystallization temperature in SbTe thin films, with different content of Sb, using DSC, optical reflection at 650 nm and XRD measurements. DSC studies showed that crystallization temperature of the films depend on the Sb content. XRD measurements have shown that films with low Sb contents (less that 73 at. %) directly crystallized in orthorhombic Sb_2nTe₃ and films with higher Sb contents first crystallized in rhombohedral Sb phase and at more high temperature appear Sb_2nTe₃ stable crystalline phase. Optical measurements showed a gradual increase of reflectivity with the temperature depending on the Sb content. The results of this research show that it is possible to obtain mixtures with different crystallization temperatures, changing the Sb content in the SbTe alloys.