Direct observation of structural relaxation in amorphous compound semiconductors

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure measurements have been used to characterize, at the atomic level, the thermally induced structural relaxation of InAs amorphized by ion implantation. Our results are consistent with a relaxation mechanism mediated by point-defect annihilation with concomitant reduction in both chemical and structural disorder. Though relaxation yields a decrease in chemical disorder, homopolar bonding is still retained in the fully relaxed amorphous structure.