Institute of Metals Division - Some Aspects of Slip in Germanium

Germanium single crystals strained in tension at 600°C slip on the {Ill} plane and, macroscopically at least, in the <110> direction. Deformation is in homogeneous: various localized rotations are observed, as is a banding consistent with secondary slip banding. The structure after deformation is polygonized with a domain size of about 2x1O-3 cm. In relaxation tests, an incubation period prior to flow is observed, of duration inversely related to temperature and applied stress. Under continuous loading, there is a sharp first yield point. A critical resolved shear stress therefore must be cited with respect both to temperature and to rate of loading. At 600°C, when loading proceeds at 2900 psi per min, it is 1310 psi. The yield point phenomenon is suggestive of Cottrell&apos;s solute atom atmosphere theory and five points of qualitative agreement with this theory are found. PLASTICITY of germanium at elevated temperatures has been reported by Gallagher,&apos; who ascribed it to slip on {Ill) planes and described some associated effects. Preliminary experiments with single crystals of silicon and germanium loaded as simple beams confirmed {ill) as the slip plane of both materials.V his was demonstrated by the standard technique employing traces on two surfaces of known angle on a deformed crystal of known orientation.3 These experiments did not fix the slip direction, since more than one glide system operated. Uniaxial tensile straining is preferred for this purpose in order to restrict slip to one predominant system and to provide an unequivocal determination of the orientation change with respect to the stress axis. Experimental Method Specimens were diamond-sawed from germanium crystals containing about 5x10-5 wt pct Sb prepared by the zone-leveling process described by Pfann and Olsen;4 these specimens measured about 81/2 in. long, 0.20 in. wide, and were of various thicknesses from 0.035 to 0.060 in. Prior to testing, a specimen was coated over 1 in. or more of length at each end with Apiezon wax, chemically polished (in a solution of 15 ml HF, 25 ml HNO,, 15 ml CH3COOH, and 3 to 4 drops Br2), and dewaxed in warm xylene. A brief re-etching after scribing through a complete wax coating with vernier dividers provided gage marks at 0.200 in. intervals on the polished surface. A specimen with grips soft soldered to the ends was passed through the furnace tube and the grips pinned to the tensile machine in series with a stress gage. The Schopper testing machine is best described by reference to the illustration on p. 107 of Schmid and Boas5 and is operated with the pendulum arm locked, fixing the upper head. Load is applied through the screw-driven lower head, manually or by reduced speed motor. The furnace is 21/2 in. long surrounding a 4x7/16 in. ID quartz tube and was positioned about the specimen to permit free motion. The inert or reducing atmosphere required was sufficiently provided by a flow of helium introduced at the center of the furnace tube, with the tube ends loosely plugged with asbestos paper. Surface corrosion was slight. The stress gage employs a Be-Cu strip with SR-4 units incorporated in a simple bridge network with provision for balancing and calibrating. The bridge output on loading is fed through a Leeds and North-rup dc amplifier to a Speedomax 10 mv recorder, and calibration is obtained by dead loading. Experiments of two types have been conducted. Most have been in relaxation at constant elongation. One stress-strain curve has been taken with the machine continuously driven. Following extension of a specimen, Laue X-ray photographs were taken to obtain the orientation change between deformed and undeformed regions, recorded on a single film by translating the specimen in a plane normal to the beam between exposures. Sequences of such multiple exposures were made on some specimens to include the entire orientation range on one film. Slip Direction To obtain a maximum orientation change with a single slip system, crystals of very closely <110> axial orientation were used. The classic determination of slip direction rests on establishing that direc-