The effect of in situ photoexcitation on the generation of damaged structures during ion implantation into Si wafers

The effect of in situ photoexcitation on the generation of structure defects in Si crystals implanted by Ar+ and Ne+ ions was studied using high-resolution x-ray diffraction. Photoexcitation was found to decrease the residual concentration of radiation-induced point defects in the case of low radiation damage (low doses, high energies) leading to annihilation of Frenkel pairs. For heavy damage (high doses, low implantation temperatures, low energies), photoexcitation contributes to amorphization of the damaged layer, which manifests itself as the formation and growth of clusters of radiation-induced point defects. Thus, in situ photoexcitation speeds up secondary processes, and the predominance of one or other process is stipulated by the degree of supersaturation of the solid solution of radiation-induced point defects.