title: Disorder Control in Crystalline GeSb2Te4Using High Pressure.
abstract: Electronic phase-change memory devices take advantage of the different resistivity of two states, amorphous and crystalline, and the swift transitions between them in active phase-change materials (PCMs). In addition to these two distinct phases, multiple resistive states can be obtained by tuning the atomic disorder in the crystalline phase with heat treatment, because the disorder can lead to the localization of the electronic states and, thus, hamper the electron transport. The goal of this work is to achieve and explore multiple disordered configurations in PCMs by applying high pressure. Large-scale ab initio molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that pressure can lower the energy barrier for the antisite migration in crystalline PCMs. The accumulation of these antisite atoms largely increases the compositional disorder, adding localized electronic states near the conduction band. The disorder-induced electron localization triggered by pressure is a novel way to modulate the properties of materials. Furthermore, the random distortion of the lattice induced by the compositional disorder provides a new mechanism that contributes to the amorphization of crystalline PCMs at high pressure.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52074 Germany.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52074 Germany.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52074 Germany.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazzarello
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52074 Germany; JARA-FIT and JARA-HPC RWTH Aachen University Aachen 52056 Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wuttig
keywords: Ge—Sb—Te (GST); ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD); disorder; high pressure; phase‐change materials