A relation between surface oxide and oxygen-defect complexes in solid-phase epitaxial Si regrown from ion-beam-amorphized Si layers

We present a direct evidence that ion implantation through thin (less than or equal to 5 nm) surface oxide layers is a source of O impurities, which f orm O-defect complexes during thermal treatment. The impurity-defect comple xes are identified by correlating the results from positron annihilation sp ectroscopy, secondary-ion mass spectroscopy, and Monte Carlo simulations. T he O atoms are introduced in the bulk by multiple recoil implantation by th e primary ions. The signatures of large VmOn formations are observed at 800 degrees C, which implies the existence of smaller species at lower tempera tures. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01111-6].