EXAFS study of mechanical-milling-induced solid-state amorphization of Se

Complete solid-state amorphization has been realized in elemental selenium by means of mechanical milling of crystalline Se powder. Extended X-ray-absorption fine-structure measurements (EXAFS) indicated that the amorphization process of crystalline Se was accompanied with a decrease of the nearest neighboring coordination number and the bond length, and the increase of the Debye–Waller factor. Combined with the previous study, we conclude that the mechanical milling results in the strengthening of intra-chain and weakening of inter-chain interactions of Se during amorphization. Compared to the structure of the as-quenched amorphous Se, the first nearest neighbor coordination number of the as-milled amorphous Se becomes smaller, while the Debye–Waller factor is larger, which is caused by the milling process.