Liquid-Phase Synthesis of Uniform Cube-Shaped GeTe Microcrystals

Abstract

Many Ge-based chalcogenide alloys, including GeTe, exhibit a reversible amorphous-to-crystalline phase change that is the basis for a wide range of current and next-generation technologies. Solution routes are attractive alternative strategies for synthesizing these materials, because they have the potential to impart morphology control on the crystallites and permit liquid-based processing of films and patterned structures. This paper describes a liquid-phase route to crystalline rhombohedral GeTe crystallites with cube-shaped morphologies and edge lengths of 1.0 ( 0.2 μm. The microcrystallites can be deposited onto planar substrates to produce highly textured (002) oriented films. During TEM imaging, the particles undergo electron beam induced fragmentation and, in some cases, partial amorphization. The GeTe crystallites are characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS (including element mapping), DSC, TEM, and electron diffraction.

The Crystal Orbital Hamilton Population (COHP) Method as a Tool to Visualize and Analyze Chemical Bonding in Intermetallic Compounds

“…In particular, the crystal structure of Ge4Se3Te is composed of layers of germa- Recent research in the field of phase-change data storage materials has focused on the developments of materials suited for applications in storage-class memories beyond the scope of traditional phase-change materials. In that connection, chalcogenide superlattices (CSL) [123,124] and nanocrystals [125,126] were investigated for their capabilities to serve in such systems. In particular, interfacial phase-change materials (iPCMs) [127][128][129], in which the transformations do not occur between an amorphous and a crystalline phase, but between two crystalline phases, are of great interest as candidate systems.…”

Solution-Based Synthesis of GeTe Octahedra at Low Temperature

“…30 In contrast, GeTe cubes with an average edge length of 1.0 μm were obtained from reactions of GeI 2 with tert-butylamine-borane (TBAB) in the presence of TOPTe at 180°C. 31 41 While short reaction times (<10 min) yielded amorphous powders, elongated reaction times (30, 60 min) gave faceted, almost monodisperse GeTe cubes (350 nm size). In addition, Buck et al reported very recently on the polymer-assisted synthesis of GeTe nanoparticles of octahedral faceted shape.…”

A Potential Method Using Ge{iPrNC[N(SiMe3)2]NiPr}2, (Et3Si)2Te and Anhydrous Hydrazine for Germanium Tellurides

“…Furthermore, the component of the black precipitate can give us a straightforward view to verify the feasibility of this method. As seen in Figure , it showed the presence of both Ge and Te from the EDS data unambiguously, thus illustrating the potential of this method to manufacture germanium tellurides.…”