Electron beam irradiation of amorphous GeSe4 thin films reveals formation of reliefs and trenches as a function of electron beam dose. Mounds as high as 115nm are observed at low electron beam dose and trenches as deep as 180nm at high dose. The geometry of trench and mound formation is examined as a function of electron beam dose, film thickness, conductive overlayer thickness, exposure count, and beam step size. Thicker films are found to more likely form trenches than thinner ones. Physical mechanisms for trench and mound formation are proposed. Both types of deformations provide a route toward the direct write of optical waveguides, gratings, and waveguide-cavity coupled structures onto thin films of chalcogenide glass.

1.
H.
Fritzsche
,
Semiconducting and Insulating Glasses
, edited by
P.
Boolchand
(
World Scientific
,
River Edge, NJ
,
2000
), p.
653
.
2.
K. E.
Asatryan
,
T.
Galstian
, and
R.
Vallee
,
Phys. Rev. Lett.
94
,
087401
(
2005
).
3.
F.
Wang
,
P.
Boolchand
,
K. A.
Jackson
, and
M.
Micoulaut
,
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter
19
,
226201
(
2007
).
4.
J.
Gump
,
I.
Finkler
,
H.
Xia
,
R.
Sooryakumar
,
W. J.
Bresser
, and
P.
Boolchand
,
Phys. Rev. Lett.
92
,
245501
(
2004
).
5.
K.
Tanaka
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
70
,
261
(
1997
).
6.
X. H.
Zhang
,
Y.
Guimond
, and
Y.
Bellec
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
519
,
326
(
2003
).
7.
A.
Zakery
and
S. R.
Elliot
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
330
,
1
(
2003
).
8.
M.
Libera
,
Appl. Phys. Lett.
68
,
331
(
1996
).
9.
P.
Boolchand
,
X.
Feng
, and
W. J.
Bresser
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
293
,
348
(
2001
).
10.
M.
Cobb
,
D. A.
Drabold
, and
R. L.
Cappelletti
,
Phys. Rev. B
54
,
12162
(
1996
).
11.
A. V.
Kolobov
,
H.
Oyanagi
,
Ka.
Tanaka
, and
K.
Tanaka
,
Phys. Rev. B
55
,
726
(
1997
).
12.
H.
Hisakuni
and
K.
Tanaka
,
Science
270
,
974
(
1995
).
13.
Y.
Ikeda
and
K.
Shimakawa
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
338
,
539
(
2004
).
14.
P.
Nagels
,
L.
Tichy
,
E.
Sleeckx
, and
R.
Callaerts
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
227
,
705
(
1998
).
15.
H.
Fritzche
,
Philos. Mag. B
68
,
561
(
1993
).
16.
K.
Tanaka
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
326
,
21
(
2003
).
17.
J.
Hegedus
,
K.
Kohary
, and
S.
Kugler
,
J. Non-Cryst. Solids
352
,
1587
(
2006
).
You do not currently have access to this content.