Growth and structure of Ge clusters produced by Ge?C co-evaporation

Abstract

Complete mixture films of carbon and germanium produced by the co-evaporation in vacuum were directly heated in a transmission electron microscope. It was noticed that the diffusion and growth of Ge dots in the mixture film take place at approximately 500°C. On the other hand, Ge dots coated with amorphous carbon were produced by simultaneous evaporation of carbon and Ge in Ar gas at 10kPa. In addition to Ge clusters of 3–10nm in size, multiple-twin Ge clusters with the size of 10nm have been produced in carbon soot. These Ge clusters showed a diamond structure. The growth process of Ge clusters in amorphous carbon soot has been discussed using the result in the mixture film experiment and temperature distribution in the particle formation process.