Evolution of point defects in pulsed-laser-melted Ge1-xSnx probed by positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy.
Oliver SteuerMaciej Oskar LiedkeMaik ButterlingDaniel SchwarzJoerg SchulzeZichao LiAndreas WagnerInga Anita FischerRené HübnerShengqiang ZhouManfred HelmGianaurelio CunibertiYordan M GeorgievSlawomir PrucnalPublished in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal (2023)
Direct-band-gap Germanium-Tin alloys (Ge1-xSnx) with high carrier mobilities are promising materials for nano- and optoelectronics. The concentration of open volume defects in the alloy, such as Sn and Ge vacancies, influences the final device performance. In this article, we present an evaluation of the point defects in molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE)- grown Ge1-xSnx films treated by post-growth nanosecond-range pulsed laser melting (PLM). Doppler broadening - variable energy positron annihilation spectroscopy (DB-VEPAS) and variable energy positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (VE-PALS) are used to investigate the defect nanostructure in the Ge1-xSnx films exposed to increasing laser energy density. The experimental results, supported with ATomic SUPerposition (ATSUP) calculations, evidence that after PLM, the average size of the open volume defects increases, which represents a raise in concentration of vacancy agglomerations, but the overall defect density is reduced as a function of the PLM fluence. At the same time, a finger print of dislocations and Ge vacancies decorated by Sn is emerging from the positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) analysis. Moreover, it is shown that the PLM reduces the strain in the layer, while dislocations are responsible for trapping of Sn and formation of small Sn-rich-clusters.