The accumulation of damage and mechanical strain in crystalline material, due to O and N ion implantation to doses of up to 4 x 1017/cm2 at high temperatures, were studied by using Rutherford back-scattering spectrometry and high-resolution X-ray diffraction. The implantation of O or N at high temperatures produced 2 distinct layers in the implanted material. The first was an essentially damage-free layer which extended from the surface up to about half of the mean projected range, and exhibited negative strain. The second was a heavily damaged layer which was located around, and beyond, the projected range and contained no significant strain. Both the damage distribution and the magnitude of the strain depended upon the implanted ion type. It was suggested that, as well as the

spatial separation of Frenkel-pair defects due to the mechanics of the collision processes and intensive dynamic annealing, an ion beam-induced annealing process was also involved in the formation of near-surface damage-free layers during high-temperature implantation.

Mechanical Strain and Damage in Si Implanted with O and N Ions at Elevated Temperatures: Evidence of Ion Beam Induced Annealing. J.P.de Souza, Y.Suprun-Belevich, H.Boudinov, C.A.Cima: Journal of Applied Physics, 2001, 89[1], 42-6