Modification of silicon structure during highly intensive Ar+ion implantation

By means of transmission electron microscopy it is established that the rearrangement of silicon structure under highly intensive Ar+ ion implantation proceeds through the four following well-defined stages: (i) disorder accumulation; (ii) amorphization; (iii) solid phase epitaxy; (iv) structure modifications in the crystallized layers. The features of structure modifications during these stages of implantation are different. This is suggested to be a result of variation of the dynamic balance between the accumulation of radiation damage and thermally activated annealing.