Annealing effects on the structure of Ge-Sb-Te alloys

In the present study the structural properties of Germanium (Ge)-Antimony (Sb)-Tellurium (Te) (GST) and Ge-rich GST thin film samples are investigated after annealing temperatures ranging from room temperature up to 450°C. We performed the annealing procedure using a heat rate of 10 °C/s to achieve the target temperature for a duration of 10 minutes under N2 flow. After heat treatment, we carried out X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopy measurements to investigate the evolution of the structure in the samples. We confirm the delayed crystallization and structure evolution at higher temperatures of Ge-rich samples with respect to standard GST.