The transient-enhanced interdiffusion of interfaces during the rapid thermal annealing of ion-implanted heterostructures was studied. It was shown that the factors which most influenced the degree of interdiffusion were the temperature, the concentration of excess vacancies, and the ability of the vacancies to diffuse freely. A model was developed in order to explain these observations. It was based upon the solution of coupled diffusion equations which involved excess vacancies and the distribution of Al after ion implantation. Both initial distributions were deduced from a 3-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation of ion implantation into a heterostructure sample. The model was found to give excellent agreement with experiment. In particular, it was valid for as-implanted vacancy concentrations of less than 6 x 1019/cm3.

K.B.Kahen, G.Rajeswaran: Journal of Applied Physics, 1989, 66[2], 545-51