Cross-sectional high-resolution electron microscopy investigation of argon-ion implantation-induced amorphization of silicon

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Abstract
Cross‐sectional high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy and related diffraction techniques are applied to the characterization of argon implantation‐induced amorphization of silicon at room temperature. Damage calculations have been performed to provide a theoretical support for the cross‐sectional transmission electron microscopy observations. It is shown that the amorphous‐crystalline interfacial roughness is strongly dependent on ion dose and hence on its depth location. The a‐c transition region was found to have sharply defined boundaries and sometimes exhibits defects such as dislocations and stacking‐fault nuclei. Combining the experimental measurement of the extension of the a layer for increasing dose, with concepts arising from the ‘‘critical damage energy density’’ model leads to a value of about 10 eV/atom for the c→a transformation. It is suggested that temperature effects are responsible for the observation that higher damage energy densities are apparently needed to produce a first continuous a layer than to extend this layer to greater depth.