Here we demonstrate that the 0-dimensional confinement of Ge2Sb2Te5 results in a drastic reduction of the minimum critical fluence required for optical-induced amorphization when compared to the thin-film cases. We show that by using single-shot laser pulses{,} the investigated nanoparticles display a crystalline-to-amorphous transition{,} satisfying a mandatory requirement of a bit-memory element. These unprecedented results open a viable route to boost energy efficient phase-change processes.
