Energy Dependence of Amorphization of Ge by Kr Ions

Abstract

ABSTRACTThin Ge specimens have been irradiated with Kr ions of different energies, and the dose required for complete amorphization determined by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Because Ge is directly amorphized by a single energetic Kr ion, onset of amorphization was detected after the lowesi ion doses. The Kr dose required for complete amorphization was found to increase linearly with ion energy over the range 0.5 MeV to 3.5 MeV. With the assumption that the defect density required for amorphization is independent of ion energy, the number of defects produced in a thin specimen by each ion decreases with increasing energy as the reciprocal of the incident ion energy. TRIM calculations indicate that there is a slight decrease in the amount of damage required with increasingion energy.