Channeling dependence of ion-beam-induced epitaxial recrystallization in silicon

Buried amorphous layers in silicon, formed by self-ion-implantation, have been regrown using 300-keV neon and nitrogen ion beams in the temperature range 200–400 °C. When the beams were aligned with the 〈100〉 axis in the crystal, the regrowth rate at the shallower amorphous/crystalline interface was reduced, while the deeper regrowth front proceeded with the same rate as that for a random beam direction. The observed channeling effect is attributed to a decreased nuclear energy deposition for the channeled ions, which suggests that the annealing mechanism involves point-defect migration in the crystalline material.