Rapid crystallization behavior of amorphous Tex thin films limits the use of these alloys as coatings and in optoelectronic devices. Understanding the short- and medium-range ordering of the amorphous structure and the fundamental physics governing the crystallization of the films is crucial. Although the lack of long range crystalline order restricts the characterization of the amorphous films, electron microscopy offers a way to extract information about the nanoscale ordering. In this paper, the local ordering of amorphous Tex thin films with grown by thermal evaporation is investigated using radial distribution function (RDF) and fluctuation electron microscopy (FEM) analysis. RDF results show that the nearest-neighbor distances of selenium (Se) and tellurium (Te) in their crystalline structure are preserved, and their bond lengths increase with the addition of Te. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations predict structures with interatomic distances similar to those measured experimentally. Additionally, fluctuations in atomic coordination are analyzed. Medium range order (MRO) analysis obtained from FEM and DFT calculations suggests that there are at least two populations within the chain network structure, which are close to the Se–Se and Te–Te intrachain distances. For the binary alloy with x > 0.61, Tex, Te–Te like populations increase and Te fragments might form, suggesting that the glass forming ability decreases rapidly.
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4 July 2022
Research Article|
July 05 2022
Structural heterogeneity in non-crystalline Tex thin films
Bengisu Sari
;
Bengisu Sari
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
2
National Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Humberto Batiz
;
Humberto Batiz
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Chunsong Zhao;
Chunsong Zhao
(Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
4
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California at Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Ali Javey
;
Ali Javey
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing)
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
4
Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California at Berkeley
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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D. C. Chrzan
;
D. C. Chrzan
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Mary C. Scott
Mary C. Scott
a)
(Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
2
National Center for Electron Microscopy, Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
3
Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 012101 (2022)
Article history
Received:
April 04 2022
Accepted:
June 16 2022
Citation
Bengisu Sari, Humberto Batiz, Chunsong Zhao, Ali Javey, D. C. Chrzan, Mary C. Scott; Structural heterogeneity in non-crystalline Tex thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 4 July 2022; 121 (1): 012101. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0094600
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