Direct observations of thermally induced structural changes in amorphous silicon carbide

Manabu Ishimaru*, Akihiko Hirata, Muneyuki Naito, In Tae Bae, Yanwen Zhang, William J. Weber

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Thermally induced structural relaxation in amorphous silicon carbide (SiC) has been examined by means of in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The amorphous SiC was prepared by high-energy ion beam irradiation into a single crystalline 4H-SiC substrate. Cross-sectional TEM observations and electron energy-loss spectroscopy measurements revealed that thermal annealing induces a remarkable volume reduction, so-called densification, of amorphous SiC. From radial distribution function analyses using electron diffraction, notable changes associated with structural relaxation were observed in chemical short-range order. It was confirmed that the structural changes observed by the in situ TEM study agree qualitatively with those of the bulk material. On the basis of the alteration of chemical short-range order, we discuss the origin of thermally induced densification in amorphous SiC.

Original languageEnglish
Article number033503
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume104
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008 Aug 25
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Direct observations of thermally induced structural changes in amorphous silicon carbide'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this