Phase Change Chalcogenide Materials for Optical Data Storage

Objective: To understand the structural and characteristic properties of phase change materials which are predominant for development of existing as well as future technologies. Crystallization kinetics and unlikeness between the amorphous and crystalline phases are the two main characterizations of phase change materials. Methods: This review demonstrates the different crystallization techniques in details. For re-writable DVD, the crystallization rate should be large enough to enable a high data rate at inflated temperature. Findings: Se-Te based chalcogenide alloys are frequently used in optical memory devices. But due to some drawbacks of these alloys, we have made an attempt to enhance their properties by addition of third element. Activation energy of crystallization (using Kissinger model) and rate of crystallization for ternary glassy alloys have been listed. It has been found that Ge is the favorable dopant for data storage applications because it has low activation energy of crystallization and high rate of crystallization. Applications: The chalcogenide fibers are used in fiber optic chemical sensor systems for remote detection and identification as well as detecting chemicals in mixtures.