In situ dynamic TEM characterization of unsteady crystallization during laser processing of amorphous germanium

Abstract

The unsteady propagation mechanism for the crystallization of amorphous germanium (a-Ge) was studied with in situ movie-mode dynamic transmission electron microscopy (MM-DTEM). Short laser pulses were used to heat sputter-deposited a-Ge films and the resulting crystallization process was imaged with up to 16 sequential 50 ns long electron pulses separated by a controlled delay that was varied between 0.5 and 5 μs The unsteady crystallization in the radial, net-growth direction was observed to occur at a decreasing rate of ∼1.5–0.2 m/s through a mechanism involving the formation of discrete ∼1.1 μm wide bands that grew with velocities of 9–12 m/s perpendicular to the radial direction and along the perimeter of the crystallized area. The crystallization rate and resulting microstructure were consistent with a liquid-mediated growth mechanism, which suggests that locally the band front reaches the amorphous melting temperature of Ge. A mechanism based on the notion of a critical temperature is proposed to explain the unsteady, banded behavior.