Study of Xenon Ion-Induced Silicon Amorphization Using Transmission Electron Microscopy and Monte Carlo Simulation

Xenon ions with energies of 5 and 8 keV were used to amorphize a single-crystal silicon substrate. Cross-sectional samples of the irradiated areas were examined by transmission electron microscopy in the bright field mode, and the thicknesses of the amorphized layers were determined based on the analysis of the obtained images. Simulation of the ion bombardment process was carried out using the Monte Carlo technique along with critical point defect density model, which made it possible to obtain theoretical estimates of the thickness of these layers. The calculation results were compared with experimental data. Monte Carlo simulation was shown to describe low-energy xenon ion-induced amorphization of single-crystal silicon with acceptable precision.