Kinetics of liquid-mediated crystallization of amorphous Ge from multi-frame dynamic transmission electron microscopy

Santala, M. K.; Raoux, S.; Campbell, G. H.

doi:10.1063/1.4938751

Title: Kinetics of liquid-mediated crystallization of amorphous Ge from multi-frame dynamic transmission electron microscopy

Journal Article · Thu Dec 24 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4938751· OSTI ID:1239268

Santala, M. K. ^[1]; Raoux, S. ^[2]; Campbell, G. H. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin (Germany)

The kinetics of laser-induced, liquid-mediated crystallization of amorphous Ge thin films were studied using multi-frame dynamic transmission electron microscopy (DTEM), a nanosecond-scale photo-emission transmission electron microscopy technique. In these experiments, high temperature gradients are established in thin amorphous Ge films with a 12-ns laser pulse with a Gaussian spatial profile. The hottest region at the center of the laser spot crystallizes in ~100 ns and becomes nano-crystalline. Over the next several hundred nanoseconds crystallization continues radially outward from the nano-crystalline region forming elongated grains, some many microns long. The growth rate during the formation of these radial grains is measured with time-resolved imaging experiments. Crystal growth rates exceed 10 m/s, which are consistent with crystallization mediated by a very thin, undercooled transient liquid layer, rather than a purely solid-state transformation mechanism. The kinetics of this growth mode have been studied in detail under steady-state conditions, but here we provide a detailed study of liquid-mediated growth in high temperature gradients. Unexpectedly, the propagation rate of the crystallization front was observed to remain constant during this growth mode even when passing through large local temperature gradients, in stark contrast to other similar studies that suggested the growth rate changed dramatically. As a result, the high throughput of multi-frame DTEM provides gives a more complete picture of the role of temperature and temperature gradient on laser crystallization than previous DTEM experiments.

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Research Organization:: Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; FWP SCW0974

OSTI ID:: 1239268

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1233952; OSTI ID: 1247277

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-676993; APPLAB

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 107, Issue 25; ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 11 works

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