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Ternary alloys of Ge-Sb-Te (GST) have been extensively studied due to theirunique ability display a reversible change in their phase upon stimulation byoptical pulses i.e., amorphous (a-GST) to crystalline (c-GST) and vice-versa.The two phases exhibit remarkably different electrical and optical propertieslike conductivity, reflectivity, refractive index and optical loss, thiscoupled with their high phase switching speeds, low power phase switching,large measurable optical and electrical contrast, and phase stability makes GSTalloys stand out from other phase change materials (PCM). GST alloys havealready found extensive use in optical disks and electronic memories due totheir non-volatility and zero static power consumption, but the precisemechanism of the phase change is not clearly understood. The phase changemechanism has usually been attributed to the optical pulse, usually a highpower short pulse laser, heating up the c-GST alloy to above its meltingtemperature (Tm) after which, if it is cooled rapidly enough to below the glasstransition temperature (Tg), the atoms are fixed in place due to the drasticreduction in their mobility, resulting in a phase which exhibits structuresimilar to a frozen liquid and lacks long range order i.e. amorphous. Whenheated above Tg with an intermediate power laser pulse for a significant amountof time, then this favors the shift back to the energetically favorablecrystalline phase. With the growing interest in next generation data storagetechnology for photonic and neuromorphic computing, the research intounderstanding and improving the properties of GST alloys has also beenrekindled. In this term paper we hope to investigate and gain a deeperunderstanding and appreciation of the kinetics and underlying atomisticmechanism of this phase transition from c-GST to a-GST and vice-versa which isonly now becoming clearer.

An Investigation into the Kinetics and Mechanism of Phase Transitions in Optical Phase Change Ternary Alloy $Ge_2Sb_2Te_5$