SiC nanoboulders on silicon - a nuclear reaction analysis study of low energy ~(13)C implanted and subsequently electron beam annealed (100) silicon

摘要

Non-resonant and resonant nuclear reaction analysis (NRA and RNRA) have been used to study the composition and formation of SiC nanoboulders on silicon. The nanoboulders are fabricated directly from ~(13)C embedded into silicon (100) by ion implantation followed by electron beam rapid thermal annealing at 1100℃ for 15 s. Scanning electron microscope studies show the nanoboulders vary in size from 150 to 390 nm depending on implant dose. The deuterium induced ~(13)C(d,p)~(14)C reaction was used to measure the ~(13)(C dose quantitatively. A high sensitivity of 1 ppm is guaranteed by detecting the p_0 signals in the background-free region of the NRA spectrum even in the presence of ~(12)C, ~(14)N and ~(16)O impurities. ~(13)C depth profiles were measured with the ~(13)C(p,γ)~(14)N resonant nuclear reaction. Both NRA and RNRA showed that the implanted carbon concentration remains unchanged by annealing. Additionally, RNRA data indicates uptake of ~(13)C into the nanoboulders during growth resulting in the observed depletion of ~(13)C from the substrate surface. Quantification of the data suggests that 50% of the implanted ~(13)C is contained within the nanoboulders.