Ion beam induced crystallization effect and growth kinetics of buried SiC layers formed by carbon implantation into silicon

Buried SIC layers were formed by dual-energy implantation of carbon into si licon at 40 and 65 keV to doses of 6x10(17) and 1.2x10(18) cm(-2), respecti vely. Annealing was performed at temperatures from 600 degrees C to 1200 de grees C for various time intervals in nitrogen. The phase transformation ch aracteristics in these SiC layers were studied using FTIR spectroscopy and a de-convolution scheme of the IR spectra into amorphous SiC and beta-SIC c omponents. The beta-SIC fraction in the as-implanted samples was found to d epend significantly on the order of the dual-energy implantation as a resul t of the IBIC effect. Further evolution of the relative amount of the vario us SIC phases upon annealing could well be described by the classical nucle ation and growth theory using a two-dimensional growth model. The overall e nthalpy of the transformation was determined to be 0.28 eV/atom. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.