Observation of T2-like coherent optical phonons in epitaxial Ge2Sb2Te5/GaSb(001) films

The phonon spectrum of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ is a signature of its crystallographic structure and underlies the phase transition process used in memory applications. Epitaxial materials allow coherent optical phonons to be studied in femtosecond anisotropic reflectance measurements. A dominant phonon mode with frequency of 3.4 THz has been observed in epitaxial Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ grown on GaSb(001). The dependence of signal strength upon pump and probe polarization is described by a theory of transient stimulated Raman scattering that accounts for the symmetry of the crystallographic structure through use of the Raman tensor. The 3.4 THz mode has the character of the 3 dimensional T₂ mode expected for the O(h) point group, confirming that the underlying crystallographic structure is cubic. New modes are observed in both Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ and GaSb after application of large pump fluences, and are interpreted as 1 and 2 dimensional modes associated with segregation of Sb.