The optical and structural properties of ion-implanted 6H-SiC single crysta
ls were investigated for samples implanted with 370 keV Si-28 ions to doses
ranging from 5 x 10(13) to 1 x 10(16) cm(-2) and at irradiation temperatur
es ranging from 20 to 600 degreesC. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry
channelling (RBS/C) showed that the dynamic recovery of the induced-damage
layer increases with irradiation temperature. The final disorder determined
from RBS/C as a function of implantation temperature was modelled in terms
of a thermally activated process which yielded an activation energy of 0.0
8 eV. Defect distributions are found to shift to greater depths with increa
sing implantation temperature and dose. Some defects are even found farther
than the accessible range of the implanted ions. RBS/C data on high-temper
ature implantations also suggests that defect complexes are created at high
doses in addition to the point defects that are still stable at high tempe
rature. A decrease in Raman intensity of implanted samples relative to that
of crystalline samples was observed and correlated with an increase in opt
ical absorption near the wavelength of the laser pump (514.5 nm).