Deformation-induced Transformations of Nanocrystalline Ge-Si Film During Indentation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThin films of Ge-Si with a duplex nanocrystalline structure were fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering and nanoindentations were made on these films. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to analyze the deformed microstructures in the residual indentations. Amorphization and diamond-cubic (dc) to non-diamond-cubic (non-dc) phase transformation were observed and considered as the major micromechanisms in the deformation of the Ge-Si duplex nanocrystals.