Resemblance of Laser Light and Electric Field Information Recordings on Chalcogenide Glassy Semiconductors

Abstract : One of the most known reversible memory effect in chalcogenide glassy semiconductors (CGS) is associated with a reversible glass-crystal phase transition. In contrast to the photo-structural effect, which is associated with a reversible structural changes between two metastable disordered glassy states, the glass-crystal phase transition in CGS can be initiated and reversed not only by power light but by an electrical voltage also. These facts give us a principle opportunity to combine electric field and laser light pulses for information recording processes in CGS. The present paper is devoted to peculiarities of information recording based on glass-crystal phase transition in CGS. We discuss the differences and resemblances of the information recording by laser light and electrical voltage pulses. It is shown that recordings based on the reversible glass- crystal phase transition are similar for optical and electrical cases and the main mechanism of phase transition is determined by thermal heating.