Antimony bonding in Ge-Sb-Te phase change materials

The amorphous phase in some technologically important Ge-Sb-Te systems is still not well understood despite many models that exist to explain it. Using nuclear magnetic resonance, we demonstrate that Sb bonding in these systems follows the 8-$N$rule for chemical bonding in amorphous solids. We find that the Sb atoms preferentially bond to three atoms in a pyramidal configuration analogous to the sites occurring in Sb-S or Sb-Se systems. The data we present should be used as a guide for structural modeling of the amorphous phase.