A transmission electron microscopy study on the atomic arrangement and grain growth of hexagonal structured Ge2Sb2Te5

The atomic arrangement and grain growth of the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ were investigated by a transmission electron microscopy study. Unlike the isotropic crystallization of face-centered-cubic (fcc) structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ grain was preferably grown to a large degree with a specific direction. As a result, we have revealed that the grain growth occurred parallel to the (0 0 0 1) plane, and identified the atomic arrangement of the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ having nine cyclic layers by analyzing the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images and simulated images obtained in the direction of zone axis.