[8] Research on mechanisms that relate the phase transition and radio frequency (RF) switching is underway, with a promising future in optimization for telecommunication applications.

[8] Although both solid states can exist at room temperatures, the transition requires a specific heating and cooling process known as the thermal actuation method.

[8] To achieve the amorphous state the solid is heated up beyond the melting temperature with a high current pulse in a short amount of time and rapidly quenched or cooled down.

[8] Semiconducting GeTe nanowires (NW) and nanohelices (NH) are synthesized via vapor transport method, with metal nanoparticle catalysts.

Nanostructures that reach the quantum regime exhibit a different set of phenomena unseen at a larger scale, for example, spontaneous polar ordering and the splitting of diffraction spots.

[10] GeTe has been heavily used in non-volatile optical data storage such as CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray and may replace dynamic and flash random access memories.

[8] The high contrast in resistivity between the amorphous and crystalline states and the ability to reverse the transition repeatedly make GeTe a good candidate for RF switching.