Transmission Electron Microscopy of Self-Annealed Ion Implanted Silicon

Self annealing experiments were performed on thermally insulated (100) Si samples, implanting 100 keV P+ ions at beam power densities of 15 and 25 W/cm2. Cross and plan section characterization by TEM of the specimens lead to two main conclusions about the dynamic annealing mechanism: 1) ion bombardment enhances the rate of amorphous to crystalline transformation; 2) residual crystalline islands are present on the surface. They allow a regrowth of the amorphous region both from the front and the bottom of the layer.