In this study, thin films of germanium have been vacuum deposited in four regimes. Care was taken to prepare reproducible films, which required that the partial pressure of water be below 10−8 Torr during deposition (1 Torr = 133.3 Pa). First, films deposited onto substrates held during deposition at a temperature Ts that is below 473 K are amorphous. Once annealed above 423 K, their electrical conductivity and optical band gap are independent of deposition temperature and rate, and of whether or not low-energy electron irradiation of the substrate is used during deposition. This suggests that a well-defined and reproducible structure is being prepared. Second, a "precrystallization regime" is obtained when Ts is between 473 and 513 K. Extended X-ray adsorption fine-structure and X-ray diffraction confirm that this regime is a two-phase mixture of amorphous material and crystallites. Third, films deposited with Ts near 513 K, while using low-energy electrons to bombard the substrate, are amorphous, but these films have different electrical and optical properties from the films m the first regime. From this, we infer that a second well-defined amorphous structure exists. Fourth, films deposited with Ts above 513 K are polycrystalline. Extended X-ray adsorption fine-structure and X-ray adsorption near-edge structure could not distinguish between the two amorphous materials in the first and third regimes.
