Acta Crystallographica Section B

Structural Science

Volume 68, Part 6 (December 2012)

research papers

Acta Cryst. (2012). B68, 559-570 [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961 ]

Structural transformation of Sb-based high-speed phase-change material

T. Matsunaga, R. Kojima, N. Yamada, Y. Kubota and K. Kifune

Abstract: The crystal structure of a phase-change recording material (the compound Ag_3.4In_3.7Sb_76.4Te_16.5) enclosed in a vacuum capillary tube was investigated at various temperatures in a heating process using a large Debye-Scherrer camera installed in BL02B2 at SPring-8. The amorphous phase of this material turns into a crystalline phase at around 416 K; this crystalline phase has an A7-type structure with atoms of Ag, In, Sb or Te randomly occupying the 6c site in the space group. This structure was maintained up to around 545 K as a single phase, although thermal expansion of the crystal lattice was observed. However, above this temperature, phase separation into AgInTe₂ and Sb-Te transpired. The first fragment, AgInTe₂, reliably maintained its crystal structure up to the melting temperature. On the other hand, the atomic configuration of the Sb-Te gradually varied with increasing temperature. This gradual structural transformation can be described as a continuous growth of the modulation period [gamma] .

B-IncStrDB reference: 6732EXfQbW

Keywords: chalcogenide compounds; homologous structure; modulated layer structure; phase change; AIST.


	Rietveld powder data file (CIF format) (180.6 kbytes) [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961/dk5006Isup2.rtv ] Contains datablock I

	Rietveld powder data file (CIF format) (254.1 kbytes) [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961/dk5006IIsup3.rtv ] Contains datablock II

	Rietveld powder data file (CIF format) (254.1 kbytes) [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961/dk5006IIIsup4.rtv ] Contains datablock III

	Rietveld powder data file (CIF format) (95.8 kbytes) [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961/dk5006IVsup5.rtv ] Contains datablock IV

	Rietveld powder data file (CIF format) (95.8 kbytes) [ doi:10.1107/S0108768112039961/dk5006Vsup6.rtv ] Contains datablock V

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