Porous structure formation in ion irradiated germanium

The ion beam induced modification of amorphous germanium is characterised by the formation of voids close to the sample surface and the transformation into a sponge-like porous surface layer at high ion fluences. This extreme structural modification of the sample surface is independent of the (heavy) ion species used and accompanied by a strong volume expansion. Nevertheless, recently it was demonstrated that buried voids (and buried sponge-like layers) can be formed in the depth of the projected ion range, however, only for the irradiation with I-ions at high ion fluences. Thus, the ion species and their chemical properties seem to play an important role in the structural modification around the projected ion range. In this paper we investigate the influence of the ion species on the ion beam induced void formation in Ge for room temperature irradiation with 380 keV I- and Au-ions as a function of the ion fluence. Independent of the ion species, a strong volume expansion is observed caused by void formation and the transformation into a sponge-like porous surface layer. For both ion species used, the final porous layers are structurally identical as established by cross section and plan view electron microscopy investigations. Further ion irradiation of the sponge-like porous structure, however, leads to significant differences in the ion beam induced structural evolution. For the Au-ion irradiation the porous layer remains nearly unchanged, whereas for the irradiation with I-ions a transformation from sponge-like to netlike porous layers occurs which is accompanied again by an extreme volume expansion. The underlying mechanism will be discussed based on chemical properties of the implanted ions.