The deduction of ballistic atomic mixing rates from high fluence ion implant collection depth distributions

An analysis is made, based upon differential atomic transport fluxes in a substrate resulting from implant ion collection, ballistically stimulated atomic relocation or mixing and surface sputtering, of the evolution of equivalent atom concentration-depth profiles in a substrate as a function of increasing ion flux. It is then shown how carefully controlled experimental studies of such profiles can be deconvoluted to determine interlayer atomic mixing probability distributions. The relevance of such an approach to sputter profiling of equivalent atom impurity profiles in a substrate is explored.