POINT-DEFECT ACCUMULATION IN SILICON IRRADIATED BY ENERGETIC PARTICLES - A MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS SIMULATION

The process of point defect accumulation in crystalline silicon under energetic electron- and ion-beam irradiation is studied using a classi cal molecular dynamics simulation. We simulate collision cascades star ting from randomly chosen primary knock-on atoms with energies between 50 eV and 500 eV at various target temperatures. We investigate the d ependence of defect accumulation on the total deposited energy. In agr eement with experiments the simulated electron-irradiation at low temp erature fails to amorphize, whereas the ion-irradiation results in the formation of amorphous material. From that we conclude that the thres hold recoil energy required for amorphization at low temperature is be tween 50 eV and 200 eV.