Visualising discrete structural transformations in germanium nanowires during ion beam irradiation and subsequent annealing
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Accepted Version
Date
2014-09-18
Authors
Kelly, Róisín A.
Holmes, Justin D.
Petkov, Nikolay
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Published Version
Abstract
In this article we detail the application of electron microscopy to visualise discrete structural transitions incurring in single crystalline Ge nanowires upon Ga-ion irradiation and subsequent thermal annealing. Sequences of images for nanowires of varying diameters subjected to an incremental increase of the Ga-ion dose were obtained. Intricate transformations dictated by a nanowire's geometry indicate unusual distribution of the cascade recoils in the nanowire volume, in comparison to planar substrates. Following irradiation, the same nanowires were annealed in the TEM and corresponding crystal recovery followed in situ. Visualising the recrystallisation process, we establish that full recovery of defect-free nanowires is difficult to obtain due to defect nucleation and growth. Our findings will have large implications in designing ion beam doping of Ge nanowires for electronic devices but also for other devices that use single crystalline nanostructured Ge materials such as thin membranes, nanoparticles and nanorods.
Description
Keywords
Germanium nanowires , Ion beam irradiation , Structural transformation , Mobility Ge-channel , Silicon nanowires , Plasma nitridation , Implanted silicon , Recrystallization , Amorphization , Dielectrics , Transistors , Oxides
Citation
KELLY, R. A., HOLMES, J. D. & PETKOV, N. 2014. Visualising discrete structural transformations in germanium nanowires during ion beam irradiation and subsequent annealing. Nanoscale, 6, 12890-12897. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C4NR04513K
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Copyright
© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2014. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Nanoscale, copyright © Royal Society of Chemistry. To access the final edited and published work see http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2014/nr/c4nr04513k