Structural and elastic properties of Ge after Kr-ion irradiation at room temperature

Changes in the elastic properties of Ge induced by room-temperature irradiation with 3.5-MeV Kr ions have been determined and correlated with changes in the microstructure determined by transmission electron microscopy. Elastic-shear-moduli changes were measured by Brillouin scattering, and changes in local atomic arrangement were determined by Raman scattering. Amorphization decreased the elastic shear modulus of Ge by 17%. The fractional decrease was correlated with the amorphous volume fraction with a cross section of 4.5±{}0.5 nm²/ion. No change was observed in the shear modulus during void formation and growth. The elastic properties of the voided material are described by the Voigt averaging. However, as the voids evolved into a fibrous spongelike microstructure, a second dramatic elastic softening occurs which we attribute to the inability of the fibrous structure to support shear stresses. Raman scattering showed that, once formed, there was no change in the structure of the amorphous material at the atomic scale during void formation and subsequent void coalescence.