The nature and habit planes of defects in P+ ion-implanted silicon

Several contradictions about the nature of defects formed on the annealing of P+ ion-implantation damage in (111) silicon are resolved. It is confirmed that the defects are interstitial type. The analysis still does not determine the exact displacements associated with the defects. The 180° ambiguity in crystal orientation was resolved using the Kikuchi poles and the asymmetry of the dark field image of rod shaped defects. The habit planes of the defects were determined using weak-beam techniques. The defects are shown to be hexagonal, faulted, and lying on the four {111} planes with displacements of the type a/x 〈111〉. This distribution of defects suggests that they are formed by the growth of interstitial clusters on close packed planes.