Nano-LED driven phase change evolution of layered chalcogenides for Raman spectroscopy investigations

We present a device driving testing platform based on vertically integrated nano light emitting diodes (nano-LEDs). The nano-LEDs with a peak wavelength emission centered at ∼ 445 nm were arranged in arrays and conditioned using a laser-micro-annealing process to individually tune their intensity. They were coupled with freestanding monocrystalline Ge1Sb2Te4 nano-membranes with three different thicknesses (∼40, ∼60 and ∼ 90 nm) with the aim of initializing ultrafast switching processes and of observing phase changed states simultaneously by Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy studies reveal that the optical pulses emitted from the nano-LEDs induce substantial, local changes in the nano-membranes’ states of the Ge1Sb2Te4 layered material. Beside the crystalline state in non-exposed areas (as-grown material), amorphous and different intermediate states were identified in exposed areas as island-like structures with diameters ranging from ∼ 300 nm up to ∼ 1.5 µm. The latter confirms the nano-LEDs’ emission role in both near- and far-field regimes, depending on the distance between nano-LED and nano-membrane, for driving i.e. inducing the phase change process. The results presented demonstrate the suitability and potential of the vertically integrated nano-LEDs as the key components for a testing platform/for electro-optical convertors driving phase change processes in optically active media. They could also play an important role in the development of future, e.g., non-volatile data storage as well as in optical and neuromorphic computing architectures based on transmistor devices.