A new thin film scanning calorimeter to measure high-T thermodynamics in amorphous Ge-Te*

A new thin-film calorimeter design suitable for measuring thin films on the heating curve of the glass transition using ultra-rapid differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is presented. This new design displays a more uniform thermal profile over the sample area and has increased sensitivity compared to previous similar devices. The capacity to measure on the heating part of the curve will allow us to probe films grown using physical vapor deposition (PVD), allowing us to access states in the energy landscape that are lower than those typically available to traditional quenched glasses. Amorphous Ge-Te films are grown at various atomic compositions around the eutectic point and at various growth temperatures using PVD to show correlations between growth conditions, fragility, ultrastability, and high-T thermodynamics, including the glass transition. These results will be compared to low-T results for the same glasses to establish correlations between high-T properties and tunneling two level system (TLS) properties.