Strain and SiC particle formation in silicon implanted with carbon ions of medium fluence studied by synchrotron x-ray diffraction

Implantation of C ions with an energy of 195 keV into Si wafers heated up to 800 °C results in an elastic distortion of the Si host lattice and in the formation of crystalline SiC particles or their prestages depending on implantation dose and temperature. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction at the Rossendorf beamline in Grenoble was used to reveal phase formation and the correlated lattice strain changes. Only a Si lattice deformation without growth of SiC was observed if the fluence did not exceed 5×1015 C ions/ cm2. After implantation of C ions up to 4×1017 cm−2 at a temperature of 500 °C, agglomerations of Si–C and an altered state of Si lattice deformation are found. By implantation of 4×1017 ions/cm2 at 800 °C, particles of the 3C–SiC (β-SiC) phase grow, which are aligned with the Si matrix. They are aligned in such a way with the Si matrix that the cubic crystallographic axes of matrix and particles coincide with an accuracy of 3°.