The Formation of Amorphous Silicon by Light Ion Damage

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Abstract
A model for formation of amorphous silicon by light ion implantation is proposed. It is suggested that accumulation of point defects and/or complexes is required at the initial stage of the amorphization process. Amorphous zones can only form at the end of incoming light ion tracks when the pre-accumulated concentration of point defects reaches a critical value. Depending on the uniformity of the point defect distribution, two possibilities for the second stage of amorphization are suggested when ion implantation is performed at different temperatures.Silicon wafers implanted with boron ions below and above the critical amorphization dose at various temperatures have been investigated using cross section specimens in high resolution TEM. Complementary analyses of these specimens by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance have revealed the presence of dangling bonds in amorphous zones and point defect clusters. Extrinsic stacking faults with 1/3 displacements and other smaller distortions with 1/x displacements were also found to result from the amorphization process. Liquid nitrogen temperature was found to be necessary to cause complete amorphization of silicon by boron ion implantation.