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Nanoscale amorphous marks have been produced in crystalline Ge2Sb2Te5 films using an atomic-force microscope (AFM) and a scanning-tunneling microscope (STM) through electrical phase changes. Voltage pulses with duration of 5–100 ns applied by metal probes of the AFM and the STM can produce, respectively, high-resistance regions and deformations, the smallest sizes being ∼10 and ∼100 nm in diameter. Raman-scattering spectra demonstrate that these marks are amorphous. The AFM mark can be erased by applying longer pulses. Formation processes of the marks are considered from electrothermal and thermodynamic aspects.
Satoh et al. (Sun,) studied this question.