Characteristics of Ion‐Implantation Damage and Annealing Phenomena in Semiconductors

Abstract

The nature of ion‐implantation damage in silicon and gallium arsenide as a function of implantation and substrate variables has been investigated using electron microscopy and Rutherford backscattering techniques. With no annealing effects, the crystalline‐to‐amorphous transition occurs at a critical energy of 12 eV/atom for silicon. By increasing the dose rate or the substrate temperature, "defect‐free" regions with no dopant redistribution are obtained. There is a dose rate or substrate temperature window in which voids are formed, producing undesirable effects. The annealing effects at high dose rates are interchangeable with substrate temperature. A high fraction of dopants in both Si and is found to be in electrically active substitutional sites after high dose rate or high temperature implants. The origin and thermal annealing of underlying dislocation bands have been examined in detail. Subsequent annealing behavior of underlying dislocation bands is critically determined by the nature of the as‐implanted states.