Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge and formation of fractal Ge micro-/nanoclusters
Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews (RGC: 21, 22, 62) › 21_Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
Author(s)
Detail(s)
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 8473-8478 |
Journal / Publication | Inorganic Chemistry |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 15 |
Publication status | Published - 6 Aug 2012 |
Link(s)
Abstract
Results on Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge (a-Ge) deposited by vacuum thermal evaporation techniques under thermal annealing in N 2 atmosphere are presented in detail. The a-Ge crystallization and fractal Ge pattern formation on the free surface of annealed Al/Ge bilayer films deposited on single-crystal Si (100) substrates were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and Raman spectra. It is found that the temperature field effects play an extremely crucial role in a-Ge crystallization and fractal Ge formation process. The open branched structure of fractal Ge clusters in Al/Ge bilayer films was effectively prepared by Al-induced crystallization when they were annealed at 400 °C for 60 min. These films with fractal Ge clusters exhibit charming noninteger dimensional nanostructures, which differ from those of conventional integer dimensional materials such as one-dimensional nanowires/nanorods, nanotubes, nanobelts/nanoribbons, two-dimensional heterojunctions, thin films, and zero-dimensional nanoparticles. The SEM image shows that a big Al grain was found located near the center of a fractal Ge cluster after the films were annealed at 400 and 500 °C for 60 min. This suggests that the grain boundaries of polycrystalline Al films are the initial nucleation sites of a-Ge. It also validates the preferred nucleation theory of a-Ge at triple-point grain boundaries of polycrystalline Al at the interface. This discovery may be explained by the metal-induced nucleation (MIN) mechanism. © 2012 American Chemical Society.
Citation Format(s)
Al-induced crystallization of amorphous Ge and formation of fractal Ge micro-/nanoclusters. / Li, Quanbao; Chen, Chen; Chen, Zhiwen; Jiao, Zheng; Wu, Minghong; Shek, Chan-Hung; Wu, C. M. Lawrence; Lai, Joseph K. L.
In: Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 51, No. 15, 06.08.2012, p. 8473-8478.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews (RGC: 21, 22, 62) › 21_Publication in refereed journal › peer-review