Shape Effects of Gesbte Nanodots on the Near-Field Interaction with A Silver Triangle Antenna

We investigated the shape effects of GeSbTe nanodots on the near-field interaction with a silver triangle antenna using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method, avoiding the difficulty of detecting near-field signals from a single dot that occurs in current measurements. The surface plasmon resonance of silver strengthens the near-field around nanodots made of GeSbTe, commonly used in phase-change recording. Using GeSbTe spheres and pillar dots with various top plane shapes, we investigated the relationship between the inner electric field concentration of GeSbTe nanodots and the radius of curvature of the corners facing the antenna tip. Reducing the radius of curvature strengthens the inner electric field of the dots, enhancing the near-field difference in intensity for the GeSbTe phase change. GeSbTe diamond pillars with a radius of curvature of 1 nm exhibit a near-field difference in intensity of 28% for the phase change. Using the antenna and the GeSbTe nanodot array, optical write-once recording is realized. The preliminary research in this study is expected to realize future optical disk storage using GeSbTe nanodots with diameters below 10 nm. (c) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics