Ion-beam-induced amorphization and dynamic annealing processes in silicon

Abstract

Amorphization of (100) silicon has been studied during elevated-temperature implantation with keV heavy ions. The amorphization process is very sensitive to the balance between defect production and annihilation rates, the latter resulting from dynamic annealing during ion bombardment. Amorphous-phase production is shown to depend critically on the ion dose rate. Further measurements have indicated that the amorphous phase can be difficult to nucleate at elevated temperatures, requiring the presence of existing interfaces, surfaces or crystal defects to provide appropriate nucleation sites.