The critical temperature for damage formation was studied in ion-bombarded samples. It was shown that the temperature depended upon the number of primary displacements per ion, unit depth and dose rate. This showed that the relationship which had been derived in order to describe the reversal of ion beam-induced recrystallization also applied to the critical temperature for damage formation in crystalline semiconductors. The activation energies were almost the same. This was attributed to the fact that both processes were dominated by the thermal mobility of point defects. The critical temperature was always less than the reversal temperature. Thus, amorphization at an amorphous crystalline interface proceeded at a slightly higher temperature when the amorphization of crystalline material was no longer possible.

Comparison between the Reversal Temperature of IBIEC-IBIIA Transition and Critical Temperatures of Damage Formation in Ion-Irradiated InP and InAs E.Wendler, N.Dharmarasu, E.Glaser: Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research B, 2000, 160[2], 257-61