Low-Energy Electron-Beam Induced Crystallization of Amorphous GeSn

Abstract

Energetic particles produce extensive defects in a target material, and finally structural changes are induced by damage accumulation. The damage processes under radiation environments are roughly classified into the “knock-on effects” and “electron excitation effects”. The former and the latter become more prominent under electron beam irradiation with higher and lower acceleration voltage, respectively. These effects degrade the quality of structural analysis, and therefore they should be avoided during electron microscopy observations. On the other hand, radiation effects are useful to realize atomic configurations far from an equilibrium state, which is difficult to be realized by conventional heat treatments. In this article, we demonstrate the synthesis of polycrystalline GeSn using the recrystallization of amorphous by low-energy electron-beam irradiation.