InSb films with various thicknesses were deposited by magnetron sputtering on SiO2/Si substrates and subsequently irradiated with 17 MeV Au+7 ions. The structural and electronic changes induced by ion irradiation were investigated by synchrotron and laboratory based techniques. Ion irradiation of InSb transforms compact films (amorphous and polycrystalline) in open cell solid foams. The initial stages of porosity were investigated by transmission electron microscopy analysis and reveal the porous structure initiates as small spherical voids with approximately 3 nm in diameter. The evolution of porosity was investigated by scanning electron microscopy images, which show that film thickness increases up to 16 times with increasing irradiation fluence. Here we show that amorphous InSb films become polycrystalline foams upon irradiation with 17 MeV Au+7 ions at fluences above 1014 cm−2. The films attain a zincblende phase, with crystallites randomly oriented, similarly to the polycrystalline structure attained by thermal annealing of unirradiated films.

Source:IOPscience

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