Annealing of isolated amorphous zones in silicon

In situ transmission electron microscopy has been used to observe the production and annealing of individual amorphous zones in silicon resulting from impacts of 200-keV Xe ions at room temperature. As has been observed previously, the total amorphous volume fraction decreases over a temperature range from room temperature to approximately 500 °C. When individual amorphous zones were monitored, however, there appeared to be no correlation of the annealing temperature with initial size: zones with similar starting sizes disappeared (crystallized) at temperatures anywhere from 70 °C to more than 400 °C. Frame-by-frame analysis of video recordings revealed that the recovery of individual zones is a two-step process that occurred in a stepwise manner with changes taking place over seconds, separated by longer periods of stability

Observation of ion beam induced magnetic patterning using off-specular polarized neutron reflectometry

The long-range magnetic structure in Co/Pt multilayers magnetically patterned by ion irradiation is observed by off-specular polarized neutron reflectivity. While both specular and off-specular measurements indicate the formation of an artificial domain structure when the sample is in its remanent state, resonant peaks seen in the diffuse scatter reveal long-range magnetic ordering with periodicity in agreement with the design value. These peaks are completely suppressed when the sample is saturated in plane, confirming their origin in the magnetic patterning of the multilayer

Incorporation of helium-implant-induced cavities near the active regions of metal-oxide-semiconductor devices: effects on dc electrical characteristics

Cavities, formed by helium implantation and subsequent annealing, have proved to be effective at trapping metal impurities within silicon. This has led to interest in their use as proximity gettering sites. In this investigation, cavity populations were formed by helium implants of energy 40 keV and dose 5×1016 cm–2 followed by annealing at 900 °C. This regime produces cavities with a mean void radius of 20 nm, located between 100 and 350 nm below the silicon surface. The effect of the presence of such cavities near the active areas of 1.2 µm p-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor devices is described. Electrical characterization of wafers, which have been implanted with helium on the front or rear silicon surface, has been carried out to determine whether the inclusion of void populations near the active regions of silicon devices is detrimental. These measurements found no evidence of any detrimental effect on the performance of working devices