Epitaxial crystallization of keV-ion-bombarded α quartz

In this article, our results on the epitaxial crystallization of ion-bombarded crystalline silicon dioxide (α quartz) are reviewed. The epitaxial recrystallization of amorphized layers was achieved after alkali irradiation and annealing in air in the temperature range 650–875 °C. The systematic behavior of alkali ions in enhancing the regrowth rate both with decreasing ion size and increasing concentration is shown. The role of oxygen in the recrystallization was investigated by means of nuclear reaction analysis, by performing thermal treatments of the samples in O18. A large amount of O18 diffuses inside the amorphous layer in the alkali-ion implanted samples at 600–800 °C. From the strong correlation between the migration of O18 and implanted alkali, it was possible to gain further insights into the recrystallization mechanism.