Latent track formation in germanium irradiated with 20, 30 and 40 MeV fullerenes in the electronic regime

Conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) have been performed on irradiated germanium with a few tens of MeV C-60 incident clusters (fullerenes), Normal and inclined incidences of the beam have been investigated. As observed in the case of silicon, microscopy observations after irradiation with 20, 30 and 40 MeV beams show clearly the presence of cylindrical amorphous latent tracks of 6, 10.6 and 12.5 nm in diameter, respectively. Other microstructural considerations are reported. The difference in diameter has been interpreted in terms of high electronic energy deposited by the three different energetic fullerene beams. Furthermore, during HREM observation, a recrystallisation process of the amorphous region of the tracks has been observed and analysed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V, All rights reserved.