In this Letter, new concepts of fluorescence phase-change materials and fluorescence phase-change multilevel recording are proposed. High-contrast fluorescence between the amorphous and crystalline states is achieved in nickel- or bismuth-doped Ge_2Sb_2Te_5 phase-change memory thin films. Opposite phase-selective fluorescence effects are observed when different doping ions are used. The fluorescence intensity is sensitive to the crystallization degree of the films. This characteristic can be applied in reconfigurable multi-state memory and other logic devices. It also has likely applications in display and data visualization.
Four different states of Si15Sb85 and Ge2Sb2Te5 phase change memory thin films are obtained by crystallization degree modulation through laser initialization at different powers or annealing at different temperatures. The polarization characteristics of these two four-level phase change recording media are analyzed systematically. A simple and effective readout scheme is then proposed, and the readout signal is numerically simulated. The results show that a high-contrast polarization readout can be obtained in an extensive wavelength range for the four-level phase change recording media using common phase change materials. This study will help in-depth understanding of the physical mechanisms and provide technical approaches to multilevel phase change recording.
