The effects of synchrotron x-rays on the local structure and the recrystallization of ion-damaged Si

Abstract

Ion implantation is used extensively as a routine, controllable and reproducible doping technique for semiconductor processing. In Si, the amorphization by ion beams as well as the subsequent thermally induced solid phase epitaxy (SPE) and the electrical activation of the implanted dopants have been studied extensively. It has been well established that the SPE of amorphous Si ({alpha}-Si) layers created by implantation is initiated by thermal annealing at temperatures {ge} 400{degrees}C and proceeds in a planar fashion. The kinetics of the SPE process was found to follow an Arrhenius equation with an activation energy of 2.7eV. Various models have been proposed to explain the SPE process. In most cases, the mechanism leading to SPE is expected to involve the formation and/or motion of defects at or near the amorphous/crystalline interface. In this work the authors explore the effects of an intense x-ray beam generated by a synchrotron source on the SPE process of ion amorphized Si layers. A layer of amorphous Si was created near the surface of a single crystal Si to a depth of {approximately}2000{Angstrom} by 180keV Zn ion implantation. The sample was then irradiated at beam line 10-3 (microprobe beamline) at the Advance Light Source (ALS) for 5-16 hours. For 5-16 hours irradiation, the total photons absorbed by the {alpha}-Si film was {approximately}0.3-1 photon/Si atom (for 4keV photons). The authors find that in ion amorphized Si layers, although the ion dose is well above the amorphization threshold, small crystallites are still present. The absorption of x-ray by the Si atoms provides enough energy to disperse the small crystallites in the amorphous Si, reducing the number of interfacial defects as well as locally re-arrange the atoms to form a homogeneously amorphous layer with close to four-fold coordinated environment. This rearrangement in local structure of the {alpha}-Si results in nearly a defect-free crystal after SPE.