Self-ion implantation and structural relaxation in amorphous silicon

TL;DR

This study uses Fluctuation Electron Microscopy to investigate medium-range order in amorphous silicon post-ion implantation, revealing complex annealing behavior and supporting the paracrystalline model over the traditional CRN model.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the evolution of medium-range order and defect structures in amorphous silicon during thermal annealing, highlighting the relevance of the paracrystalline model.

Findings

MRO increases then decreases with annealing.

High defect density in the paracrystalline phase anneals out at 500°C.

Higher-temperature annealing approaches but does not fully reach a CRN before crystallization.

Abstract

Self-ion implantation amorphization is an established approach to study the structure and properties of amorphous silicon (a-Si). Fluctuation Electron Microscopy (FEM) has consistently observed Medium-Range Order (MRO) in this system that is not consistent with the Continuous Random Network (CRN) model. Using this technique we find that the degree of MRO first increases on thermal annealing and then decreases before finally recrystallizing. We discuss this new result in the light of previous experimental studies and recent theoretical observations on the favorability of the paracrystalline (PC) model over the CRN in a-Si. At ion doses far above the minimum required to amorphize, a high defect density is found in the PC phase, which anneals out at 500oC. The PC structure after 500oC annealing is independent of the initial implantation conditions and appears to represent a metastable and highly-ordered structure. Higher-temperature annealing causes a reduction in the degree of MRO and the structure approaches but does not reach a fully continuous random network before eventually crystallizing above 600oC. The effect of high dose implantation is to increase the defect density in the as-implanted state and the annealing of these defects is likely responsible for the large characteristic heat evolution at low temperature.