Laser-induced metal-to-semiconductor phase transition in mixed Al-Sb films

Abstract

Metallic films consisting of overlapping polycrystalline layers of, alternatively, Al or Sb atoms in overall equal proportions are irradiated at 300 °K with 80-mJ/cm2 microsecond dye laser pulses of 2-eV photon energy. Using transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, optical transmission, and conductivity measurements, the presence of semiconducting AlSb is fully identified in systematically all the irradiated films after one single pulse, giving unambiguous evidence for a phase transition between the layered fcc-rhomboedric metallic structure and the blende structure of AlSb.