Ge-Sb-Te Phase Change Materials: Optical and Electronic Properties, Structural Transformations, and Fabrication of Nanostructures

该项目寻求新的知识和更大的基本理解的光学和电子性能的结晶和非晶状态的Ge-Sb-Te材料，包括带隙的表征，电子带尾和缺陷态的能量分布，和其他属性。结构研究，包括使用波动电子显微镜，旨在详细的纳米结构描述的不同的非晶状态（沉积，部分退火，和熔融淬火），以及它们在相变动力学中的作用。该项目还将探索相变过程的纳米尺度尺寸限制（空间分辨率），目标是制造量子器件。 该项目解决了具有高技术相关性的材料科学专题领域的基础研究问题。该研究将在基础层面上为电子/光子学的新理解和能力贡献基础材料科学知识。该研究与诸如CD-CD/DVD和PRAM非易失性存储器技术的应用有关。该计划的一个重要特点是通过在一个基本和技术上重要的领域对学生进行培训来整合研究和教育。该计划将支持两名研究生，并每年招收一至两名本科生，以开展这项工作的一部分，作为他们的毕业论文。 因此，该项目将有助于教育和培训学士，医学硕士，和博士毕业生合格的学生将通过SURGE（支持工程中代表性不足的群体）和WISE（科学和工程中的妇女）计划确定，这些计划在UIUC实施。 研究结果将通过在国际会议上的介绍和在科学杂志上发表而广泛传播。***

This project seeks new knowledge and greater fundamental understanding of the optical and electronic properties of crystalline and amorphous states of Ge-Sb-Te materials, including characterizations of the bandgap, energy distribution of electronic band tail and defect states, and other properties. Structural investigations, including the use of fluctuation electron microscopy, aim for detailed nanostructural description of the different amorphous states (as-deposited, partially annealed, and melt- quenched), and their role in phase change kinetics. The project will also explore the nanometer-scale size limit (spatial resolution) of the phase change process with a goal of fabricating quantum devices. %%%The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science having high technological relevance. The research will contribute basic materials science knowledge at a fundamental level to new understanding and capabilities in electronics/photonics. The research is relevant to applications such as rewritable CD/DVD and the PRAM nonvolatile memory technologies. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area. The program will support two graduate students and recruit one or two undergraduates per year to carry out portions of this work as their senior theses. This project will thus contribute to the education and training of B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. graduates. Qualified students will be identified through the SURGE (Support of Under-represented Groups in Engineering) and WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) programs which are in place at UIUC. Research results will be broadly disseminated by presentations at international conferences and by publication in scientific journals. ***