Ion-irradiation-induced porosity in GaSb

Porosity in GaSb induced by Ga 69 ion irradiation has been investigated as a function of implant dose and temperature. Initially pores form in the implanted material which become elongated as they increase in size. With increasing implant dose, the structure continues to evolve into plates and finally a network of nanoscale rods. Swelling to 25 times the original implanted layer thickness has been observed. The temperature dependence of the minimum feature size has been established. The crystalline-to-amorphous and continuous-to-porous transformations proceed simultaneously. We suggest the latter results from the precipitation of interstitials at extended crystalline defects in preference to Frenkel pair recombination as potentially related to anomalous diffusion in GaSb.