Snapshot of carrier dynamics from amorphous phase to crystal phase in Sb₂Te₃ thin film

Electrons and phonons in chalcogenide-based materials play are important factors in the performance of an optical data storage media and thermoelectric devices. However, the fundamental kinetics of carriers in chalcogenide materials remains controversial, and active debate continues over the mechanism responsible for carrier relaxation. In this study, we investigated ultrafast carrier dynamics in an multilayered $\{Sb(3{\AA})/Te(9{\AA})\}n$ thin film during the transition from the amorphous to the crystalline phase using optical pump terahertz probe spectroscopy (OPTP), which permits the relationship between structural phase transition and optical property transitions to be examined. Using THz-TDS, we demonstrated that optical conductance and carrier concentration change as a function of annealing temperature with a contact-free optical technique. Moreover, we observed that the topological surface state (TSS) affects the degree of enhancement of carrier lifetime, which is closely related to the degree of spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The combination of an optical technique and a proposed carrier relaxation mechanism provides a powerful tool for monitoring TSS and SOC. Consequently, the response of the amorphous phase is dominated by an electron-phonon coupling effect, while that of the crystalline structure is controlled by a Dirac surface state and SOC effects. These results are important for understanding the fundamental physics of phase change materials and for optimizing and designing materials with better performance in optoelectronic devices.