The formation of a nano-scale Si surface layer was studied after high-temperature annealing of Si modified by shallow plasma immersion implantation of nitrogen with fluences of 1016 to 1018/cm2. The implanted profiles of atomic (N+) and molecular nitrogen (N2+) were modelled by SRIM for various annealing durations; taking into account the diffusion process. The presence of Si-O and Si-N bonds was established by Fourier spectral analysis and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The refractive index value measured at 632.8nm varied from 1.46 to 1.59, corresponding to a low y/x ratio. The models using VIS and IR ellipsometric data revealed formation of nanostructured SiOxNy layer with Si inclusions.

Annealing of Si Surface Region Modified by Plasma Immersion Implantation of Nitrogen. S.Alexandrova, E.Halova, A.Szekeres, E.Vlaikova, M.Gartner, M.Anastasescu: Journal of Physics - Conference Series, 2012, 356[1], 012031