Ion irradiation-induced modifications in the surface morphology of Ge20Se74Bi6 thin films

The swift heavy ion-induced changes in the surface morphology of Ge20Se74Bi6 thin films are observed using atomic force microscopy. Ge20Se74Bi6 thin films were irradiated with Ni ion of 75 MeV energy and the beam current during irradiation was 5 pnA and fluence was varied for different samples from 5 × 1012 to 1014 ions/cm2. The AFM micrographs indicate special features on the surface resulting from electronic energy loss.