The role of Fe on the crystallisation of alpha-Si3N4 from amorphous Si-N formed by ion implantation

Ion implantation into Si has been used to produce near-surface. amorphous S i-N layers with the nitrogen content both below and exceeding Si3N4 stoichi ometry. Iron has been introduced into some of these layers to study the eff ect of Fe on subsequent crystallisation to alpha-Si3N4. Rutherford backscat tering and channeling, X-ray diffraction and cross-sectional transmission e lectron microscopy have been used to analyse these implanted samples before and after annealing to 1000 degrees C. These results provide considerable: insight into alpha-Si3N4 formed by another non-equilibrium mixing process, namely reactive ball milling or mechanochemistry. (C) 1999 Published by El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.