Volume 213, 2019

Priming effects in the crystallization of the phase change compound GeTe from atomistic simulations

Abstract

Strategies to reduce the incubation time for crystal nucleation and thus the stochasticity of the set process are of relevance for the operation of phase change memories in ultra-scaled geometries. With these premises, in this work we investigate the crystallization kinetics of the phase change compound GeTe. We have performed large scale molecular dynamics simulations using an interatomic potential, generated previously from a neural network fitting of a database of ab initio energies. We have addressed the crystallization of models of amorphous GeTe annealed at different temperatures above the glass transition. The results on the distribution of subcritical nuclei and on the crystal growth velocity of postcritical ones are compared with our previous simulations of the supercooled liquid quenched from the melt. We find that a large population of subcritical nuclei can form at the lower temperatures where the nucleation rate is large. This population partially survives upon fast annealing, which leads to a dramatic reduction of the incubation time at high temperatures where the crystal growth velocity is maximal. This priming effect could be exploited to enhance the speed of the set process in phase change memories.

Graphical abstract: Priming effects in the crystallization of the phase change compound GeTe from atomistic simulations

Associated articles

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 May 2018
Accepted
03 Aug 2018
First published
31 Oct 2018

Faraday Discuss., 2019,213, 287-301

Priming effects in the crystallization of the phase change compound GeTe from atomistic simulations

S. Gabardi, G. G. Sosso, J. Behler and M. Bernasconi, Faraday Discuss., 2019, 213, 287 DOI: 10.1039/C8FD00101D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements