Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2022) 137: 707
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02930-1

Regular Article

Impact of irradiation doses on the structural, morphological, and linear–nonlinear optical properties of Ge₁₀Sb₂₅Se₆₅ thin films for optoelectronic applications

¹ Department of Engineering and Materials Physics, ICT-IOC, 751013, Bhubaneswar, India
² Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, 560012, Bangalore, India
³ Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, 560012, Bangalore, India

^e ramakanta.naik@gmail.com

Received: 27 March 2022
Accepted: 7 June 2022
Published online: 18 June 2022

Abstract

In this study, we have reported proton irradiation (30 keV) induced various properties change in the thermally evaporated Ge₁₀Sb₂₅Se₆₅ films. The bulk sample was prepared by the melt-quenching method, and the thin films were prepared from the bulk sample by the thermal evaporation technique. The proton ions were bombarded on the Ge₁₀Sb₂₅Se₆₅ thin films at different fluences. The amorphous nature of the ion irradiated films was confirmed from the X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectra showed the essential information regarding the changes in peak intensity. Atomic force microscopic study revealed an abrupt increase in surface roughness of the irradiated films. However, significant variations were not observed from the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis (EDAX). The fluence-induced dispersion, dielectric, and linear–nonlinear optical quantities were evaluated using the UV–Vis spectroscopy data. The increase in optical bandgap was observed, whereas their corresponding refractive indices decreased upon increasing the irradiation fluence. The increase in transmittance also suggests a reduction in the refractive index. The changes in absorption coefficient (α) and extinction coefficient (k) led to the changes in other linear and nonlinear parameters. The dispersion parameters, dielectric parameters, and plasma frequency decreased upon increasing the proton irradiation. SRIM-2008 software was used to analyse the electronic stopping power (S_e), nuclear stopping power (S_n), lateral straggling, longitudinal straggling, and the proton penetration range (R_p) in the Ge₁₀Sb₂₅Se₆₅ films. The dominating nature of S_e compared to the S_n was observed from this analysis. Conclusively, the behaviour of proton-irradiated Ge₁₀Sb₂₅Se₆₅ thin films widens the application possibilities in optoelectronic devices.