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

Abstract The swift heavy ion-induced changes in the surface morphology of Ge 20 Se 74 Bi 6 thin films are observed using atomic force microscopy. Ge 20 Se 74 Bi 6 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 × 10 12 to 10 14 ions/cm 2 . The AFM micrographs indicate special features on the surface resulting from electronic energy loss.