Effects of carbon doping on chemical states of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5, measured with synchrotron radiation

We fabricated and analyzed the chemical states of carbon-doped (5.2–13.2 at.%) Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ thin films on Si substrates using high-resolution, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation. Thin films were completely amorphous and their phase-change temperature was 150 °C higher than for un-doped GST. As the carbon doping concentration increased, new chemical states of Ge 3d with 29.9 eV and C 1s with 283.7 eV core-levels were observed. The doped carbon was bonded only with Ge in GST and doping was saturated at 8.7 at.%.     

Energy-filtered XPEEM with NanoESCA using synchrotron and laboratory X-ray sources: Principles and first demonstrated results

The importance of energy filtering in PEEM-based imaging methods has been shown in recent years with the availability of powerful instruments. A new instrument, the NanoESCA, combines a fully electrostatic PEEM column and an aberration corrected double hemispherical analyser as energy filter. This paper reports on recently demonstrated XPEEM results using the first commercially available NanoESCA instrument operated with both synchrotron soft X-rays and monochromatic laboratory Al Kα radiation. The implementation of elemental and bonding-state specific imaging is shown with both excitation sources. The presently achieved (but not yet ultimate) lateral resolutions on energy filtered core-level images are 150 nm with a large synchrotron spot and below 1 μm with a focused laboratory source. To date this is the unique example of laboratory XPEEM core-level imaging.     

In situ synchrotron radiation topography of NaCI during high temperature creep

High temperature plastic deformation is associated with large changes in the microstructure of single crystals. To observe this microstructure during the creep test, we have performed X-ray reflection topography, taking advantage of the high intensity of the synchrotron radiation. A special creep machine was designed which permits in situ observation.

Creep tests and microstructural observations were performed on NaCl single crystals compressed along <100> at about 600°C. As soon as the deformation started, subgrains appeared within the crystal, independent of the initial microstructure. Migration of the subboundaries during transient creep is followed by stabilization during steady state creep where a well developed subgrain structure keeps constant while new appearing subboundaries migrate. Misorientation between sub-grains increases progressively although more slowly in the steady state creep. A correlation between the microstructure evolution and the changes in the creep curves has been attempted.