Atomic-force microscopy was used to study the relief which formed on a Ge surface in the initial stages of multiple laser-induced deformation. Both elastic and inelastic strains could be induced in surface layers irradiated with scanning laser pulses. It was shown that elastic deformation of the Ge surface did not affect its initial nano-relief, whereas inelastic deformation initiated the low-threshold formation of ordered nanostructures on the surface. It was considered whether there was a correlation between this phenomenon and the laser-induced generation of point defects near to the inelastic-strain threshold.

Self-Organization of Laser-Induced Point Defects at the Initial Stages of Inelastic Photodeformation in Germanium. S.V.Vintsents, A.V.Zaitseva, G.S.Plotnikov: Semiconductors, 2003, 37[2], 124-30