Phase Transition Behavior of Ge-Bi-Te Thin Films from an NaCl to Rhombohedral Structure

Abstract

The crystallization tendency and phase transition behavior of Ge-Bi-Te chalcogenide, thin films were investigated with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The experimental results show that metastable NaCl changes occur in the stable rhombohedral structure through an intermediate structure with a monoclinic lattice and, secondly, that the motive force of such a phase transformation is the shearing distortion of the metastable structure along the < 100 > direction.