Strain-induced phase selection in epitaxial Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films

Abstract

Controlling strain in hetero-epitaxial material systems can be used to optimize properties and functionalities for specific applications. For this purpose, a lattice mismatch between substrate and epitaxial layer is typically exploited. Beyond that, vicinal substrate surfaces can be used to enhance strain-induced effects. In both cases, a profound understanding of the impact of strain on the growth mode and the resulting structure and morphology of the epitaxial layer is of great importance in order to achieve the desired modifications. In this study, the impact of vicinal substrate surfaces on the phase, structure as well as on surface pattern formation in epitaxial phase-change material thin films is investigated. It is found that in the case of the prototypical phase-change material $\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{b}}_{2}\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$, the change from nominally flat Si(111) substrates to substrates with a miscut of 6\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and terrace widths lying between 2 and 5 nm enhances compressive strain and a transition from 2D island nucleation to step-flow growth. This results in a different $\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{b}}_{2}\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$ phase evolution (change from metastable to stable phase) and surface nanostructuring by regularly arranged terraces that resemble the surface topography of the substrates. This work therefore provides deeper insights into different regimes of growth of epitaxial $\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{b}}_{2}\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{e}}_{5}$ thin films and paves the way for strain-induced modification possibilities such as band-gap tuning, optimization of the switching energy or the figure of merit.