Porous germanium with copper nanoparticles formed by ion implantation

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd For the first time, Cu+-ion implantation into single-crystal c-Ge with an energy of E = 40 keV, doses (D) from 1.8·1015 to 1.5·1017 ion/cm2 and current density of J = 5 μA/cm2 was carried out. Using scanning electron microscopy the surface morphology of an implanted c-Ge was studied. The composition and structure of the samples were also analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was shown that after exceeding the threshold of D = 3.1·1015 ion/cm2, Cu nanoparticles uniformly distributed over the a-Ge surface are synthesized. For a sample implanted with D = 6.2·1016 ion/cm2, a Ge porous network is observed. Cu nanoparticles are located in the nodes of network. XPS study showed that Cu-germanate does not form