Liesbeth Van Pieterson

Experimental Methods for Material Selection in Phase-change Recording

Phase-change materials and their crystallization behavior are qualitatively described. This crystallization behavior is important for the applicability of materials in optical and electrical recording. We describe an experimental method to determine the crystallization rate at ambient temperatures and as a result the archival life stability of recorded data. Furthermore, we explain two experimental methods to determine the crystallization rate at elevated temperatures, which is related to the data rate of rewritable recording. We illustrate that systematic research for materials with improved crystallization characteristics has led to very stable and fast-crystallizing phase-change compositions.