A transmission electron microscopic study was made of end-of-range dislocation loops in material which had been implanted with 50keV Si ions to a dose of 1016/cm2. The post-implantation treatment involved furnace annealing at 850C or rapid thermal annealing at 1000C. Ripening of 2 types of end-of-range dislocation loop was observed. These were faulted Frank dislocation loops and perfect prismatic dislocation loops. By separating their size distribution profiles, it was found that these profiles were different from those for the usual Ostwald ripening process in precipitates. A long-tailed distribution profile was found for perfect prismatic dislocation loops. An analysis of the distribution profiles showed that the size distribution profile of faulted Frank dislocation loops could be fitted by using a normal Gaussian probability function, and that that of perfect prismatic dislocation loops could be fitted by using a log-normal Gaussian probability function. Measurements of the total number of interstitials within both types of loop showed that the ripening of end-of-range dislocation loops was conservative.

G.Z.Pan, K.N.Tu, A.Prussin: Journal of Applied Physics, 1997, 81[1], 78-84