High-dose oxygen ion implantation into 6H-SiC

Microstructures of oxygen ion implanted SiC have been examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy equipped with an energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer. 6H-SiC (0001) substrates were implanted with 180 keV oxygen ions at 650 °C to fluences of 0.7×1018 and 1.4×1018/cm2. A continuous buried oxide layer was formed in both samples, while the surrounding 6H-SiC contained minimal damage. These results suggest that oxygen implantation into SiC is a useful technique to establish SiC-on-insulator structures. In bright-field TEM images, the amorphous layer possessed uniform contrast in the low-dose sample, while it consisted of three distinct layers in the high-dose sample: (1) a bubbled or mottled layer; (2) a dark contrast layer; and (3) a light contrast layer. Chemical measurements revealed that the bubbled and light contrast regions have low silicon and oxygen contents, while carbon enrichment was found in these layers.