Dynamics of ultrafast reversible phase transitions in GeSb films triggered by picosecond laser pulses

The dynamics and the reversibility conditions of crystalline↔amorphous transitions induced in thin Ge0.07Sb0.93 films upon picosecond laser pulse melting were studied by real-time reflectivity measurements with nanosecond and picosecond resolution. The full transformation time could be resolved in a single exposure experiment using a novel setup based on a streak camera. It is shown that under optimum conditions both crystallization and amorphization are completed within 400 ps. The fundamental requirement for the occurrence of such ultrafast phase transformations is to reduce the latent heat released upon solidification. Amorphization is then achieved via bulk solidification of the fully molten film at a very large supercooling. © 1999 American Institute of Physics.Peer Reviewe