Defect Induced Amortization in Silicon: A Tight Binding Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe present an investigation on the amorphization process of crystalline silicon induced by ion beam bombardment by simulating the insertion of self-interstitials at different temperatures. The simulation is carried out by tight-binding molecular dynamics which allows for a detailed characterization of the chemical bonding and electronic properties of the irradiated samples. The irradiation process consists of two steps: (i) insertion of defects at a constant rate; (ii) annealing of the sample and observation of its structural properties. Thanks to the large size of the simulation cell (up to 276 atoms) we can characterize the amorphous network both on the short-range and Medium-range length scale. Electronic properties are investigated as well and their evolution is monitored during the insertion process. Finally, we present a thorough comparison of the structural properties of the irradiated sample with amorphous silicon as obtained by rapid quench from the Melt.