Deformation behavior of ion-beam-modified GaN

The deformation behavior of wurtzite GaN films modified by ion bombardment is studied by nanoindentation with a spherical indenter. Results show that implantation disorder significantly changes the mechanical properties of GaN. In particular, GaN amorphized by ion bombardment exhibits plastic deformation even for very low loads with dramatically reduced values of hardness and Young's modulus compared to the values of as-grown GaN. Implantation-produced defects in crystalline GaN suppress the plastic component of deformation and significantly change the values of hardness and Young's modulus. In addition, implantation disorder in crystalline GaN suppresses both "pop-in" events during loading and the appearance of slip traces on the sample surface as a result of indentation. This strongly suggests that slip nucleation (rather than a phase transformation) is the physical mechanism responsible for the pop-in events observed during loading of as-grown crystalline GaN.