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Growth and thermal annealing of amorphous germanium carbide obtained by X-ray chemical vapor deposition

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Abstract

The growth of amorphous hydrogenated germanium carbide (a-GeCx:H) alloys was performed with high deposition rates by radiolysis chemical vapor deposition (X-ray) of germane/allene (GeH4/C3H4, 70/30 %) mixtures at different irradiation times. The experimental deposition parameters were correlated to the composition, the structural features, and the optical coefficients of the films, as studied by different spectroscopic techniques, namely, IR, Raman, and UV–Vis. It was observed that the increase of irradiation time yields a more hydrogenated and more disordered material, with abundant formation of sp3 CH2 groups, characterized by high band-gap values. In addition, we report the effects of thermal annealing on bonding structures and optical properties of the amorphous germanium carbon alloys. The decrease of hydrogen extent, together with the enhancement of sp2 C bonds present and amorphous-to-crystalline germanium phase transition, contribute to a larger structural order of the material and to the reduction of the optical gap at higher temperatures.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Università di Torino and the Italian Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR) for financial support through the “Cofinanziamento di Programmi di Ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale” (PRIN).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica and NIS Centre of Excellence, Università degli Studi di Torino, via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125, Turin, Italy

    C. Demaria, P. Benzi, E. Bottizzo, P. Antoniotti, R. Rabezzana & L. Operti

  2. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia, Villa Brignole, Corso Perrone 24, 16152, Genoa, Italy

    P. Benzi

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro”, viale Teresa Michel 11, 15121, Alessandria, Italy

    A. Arrais

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  1. C. Demaria
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Correspondence to C. Demaria.

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Demaria, C., Benzi, P., Arrais, A. et al. Growth and thermal annealing of amorphous germanium carbide obtained by X-ray chemical vapor deposition. J Mater Sci 48, 6357–6366 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7435-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7435-1

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