Abstract
Silver diffuses into an amorphous (a-) chalcogenide layer while visible light illuminates Ag/a-chalcogenide films and neutron reflectometry is a suitable technique probing time evolution of the depth profiles without damaging the sample by the probe beam itself. In this paper, we report the results of time-resolved neutron reflectivity measurements of a-Ge40Se60/Ag/ Si films taken while the films are exposed to visible light. From the measurements, we found enormous changes in the neutron reflectivity profile, including a loss of total reflection region, with continuous illumination even after forming one homogeneous layer, which occurred about 50 min after starting illumination. At this stage, a clear off-specular scattering was observed by a linear detector and a surface roughness was observed with naked eyes.
Highlights
They measured Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) with an appropriate He+ beam intensity and found the dynamics of the depth profile
We report our recent results of time-resolved neutron reflectivity measurement for Ag/Ge-Se films while being exposed to visible light, and discuss the silver photo-diffusion process into the films
Before light exposure, we confirmed that silver diffusion had already taken place forming a reaction layer with about 250Å thickness, and leaving a thin Ag layer with 30Å thickness
Summary
They measured RBS with an appropriate He+ beam intensity and found the dynamics of the depth profile. X-ray and Neutron reflectivity are powerful techniques that can be used to reveal such transient depth profiles. Synchrotron radiation provides brilliant photon fluxes for time-resolved X-ray reflectivity measurements and can readily discern small changes in surface or interface structure.
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