ANALYSIS OF SEMICONDUCTORS BY ION CHANNELING - APPLICATIONS AND PITFALLS

Ion channelling is a rapid and powerful method for determining the per fection of single crystals and, more specifically, is sensitive to dep artures in the perfect arrangement of atoms in a single crystal lattic e. This paper examines three of the major applications of channelling, namely lattice disorder, atom location of foreign species within a ho st matrix and improved sensitivity for thin film analysis. Examples ar e given in these three areas covering build up of implantation damage in GaN, SiO2? and Si3N4 formation during SIMS analysis and atom locati on of Au at nanocavities in Si. These examples are shown not only to i llustrate applications but also to highlight pitfalls in using channel ling/Rutherford backscattering analysis of semiconductors. Such pitfal ls can give rise to significant errors when the channelling stopping p ower alters the depth scale for profiling of damage or impurities and/ or changes the energy window for atom location. Channelling oscillatio ns can also influence the ability to obtain random spectra and interpr et near-surface disorder vs, depth profiles. (C) 1998 Published by Els evier Science B.V.