Ion beam synthesis and characterization of thin SiC surface layers

Implantation of carbon into silicon with a concentration below 50 at,% and subsequently thermal treatment under high vacuum conditions results in the formation of a SiC surface layer. Crystalline Si[1 0 0] samples were implan ted with 40 keV C-13 ions at RT with a fluence of 3.8 x 10(17) ions/cm(2). The samples were thermally treated at different temperatures and for differ ent annealing times using a scanned 20 keV electron beam. The influence of these parameters on the concentration-depth distribution of carbon was inve stigated by Narrow Resonance Reaction Analysis (NRRA) with the C-13(p,gamma )N-14 reaction. An active oxidation process is proposed to be responsible f or the redistribution of the implanted carbon atoms into a rectangular carb on-depth distribution. SiC-bonds were studied using Fourier Transform Infra red Spectroscopy (FTIR). A sharp and symmetric absorption peak of SiC appea rs after formation of the rectangular carbon distribution. The SiC surface layers were finally characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) , (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.