Electronic-Excitation-Induced Processing in GaSb Compound Nanoparticles

H Yasuda,H Mori

doi:10.1155/2011/901930

Abstract

Temperature dependence of electronic-excitation-induced structural changes in nanoparticles has been studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy. When GaSb nanoparticles kept at 340 K were excited by 25 keV electrons, the compound transforms to the porous compound or the two-phase structure consisting of an antimony core and a gallium shell with increasing the total electron dose. On the other hand, in GaSb nanoparticles kept at 293 K the structure remains the original compound phase. It is suggested that such temperature dependence of the structural changes may arise from synergetic behaviors of point defects introduced athermally by the excitation and thermal mobility.

Highlights

Structural stability in materials under electronic excitation is different from that at the ground state
It was found that when GaSb particles were excited by lowenergy electrons, the compound transforms to a two-phase consisting of an antimony core and a gallium shell with a nanometer-sized void [1,2,3,4]
We studied the temperature dependence of such structural changes induced by low-energy electronic excitation in GaSb particles by in situ transmission electron microscopy

Summary

Introduction

Structural stability in materials under electronic excitation is different from that at the ground state. It is expected that electronic excitation effects on the structural stability will be enhanced in nanoparticles which have high surfaceto-volume ratio and high-atomic mobility. It was found that when GaSb particles were excited by lowenergy electrons, the compound transforms to a two-phase consisting of an antimony core and a gallium shell with a nanometer-sized void [1,2,3,4]. We studied the temperature dependence of such structural changes induced by low-energy electronic excitation in GaSb particles by in situ transmission electron microscopy

Experimental Procedures

Results and Discussion

Conclusions