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Amorphous silicon exhibits a glass transition

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 804–809 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Amorphous silicon is a semiconductor with a lower density than the metallic silicon liquid. It is widely believed that the amorphous–liquid transition is a first-order melting transition. In contrast to this, recent computer simulations and the experimental observation of pressure-induced amorphization of nanoporous silicon have revived the idea of an underlying liquid–liquid phase transition implying the existence of a low-density liquid and its glass transition to the amorphous solid. Here we demonstrate that during irradiation with high-energy heavy ions amorphous silicon deforms plastically in the same way as conventional glasses. This behaviour provides experimental evidence for the existence of the low-density liquid. The glass transition temperature for a timescale of 10 picoseconds is estimated to be about 1,000 K. Our results support the idea of liquid polymorphism as a general phenomenon in tetrahedral networks.

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Figure 1: Ion hammering effect.
Figure 2: Plastic flow of amorphous silicon.
Figure 3: Quantification of the plastic deformation.
Figure 5: Amorphous silicon behaves like a glass.
Figure 4: Estimation of T*.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Trinkaus, E. Wendler and A. Kamarou for discussions and U. Kaiser, H. Hobert and C. Voigt for their contributions to the analysis of the samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Festkörperphysik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, Jena, D-07743, Germany

    André Hedler & Werner Wesch

  2. Hahn-Meitner-Institut, Glienicker Straße 100, Berlin, D-14109, Germany

    Siegfried Ludwig Klaumünzer

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  1. André Hedler
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Correspondence to André Hedler.

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Hedler, A., Klaumünzer, S. & Wesch, W. Amorphous silicon exhibits a glass transition. Nature Mater 3, 804–809 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1241

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