Phase change materials (PCMs) are commonly used in rewritable optical disks and memory devices. Recently, there have been efforts to incorporate PCMs into optical components and photonic circuits for developing reconfigurable optics, which necessitates the use of larger-scale PCMs. However, enlarging PCM-based devices has proven challenging due to difficulties in the switching mechanism, which demands significant thermal energy density. In this study, through computational models and experimental observations, we explore the effective parameters in phase transformation of Ge2Sb2Te5 and Ge2Sb2Se4Te, with areal length scale on the order of tens of micrometers. Our findings offer insight regarding the development of next-generation adaptive optics such as filters, zoom lenses, and beam steering devices.
|