Raman scattering investigation on structural and chemical disorder generated by laser ablation and mechanical microindentations of InSb single crystal

This paper reports on a topographic and tomographic Raman scattering study of the structural and chemical disorders generated by microindentations in indium antimonide. Two different microindentation mechanisms were investigated: mechanical and laser ablations. In the mechanical indentation, three main effects were observed: amorphization, structural pressure induced phase transition from zinc blende to wurtzite structure, and the presence of both compressive and tensile residual strains. On the other hand, an intense irreversible chemical disorder in the laser ablation was observed, the main effect being the segregation of crystalline antimony up to the surface of the indentation mark.