Defect versus nanocrystal luminescence emitted from room temperature and hot-implanted SiO2 layers

Silicon nanocrystals have been synthesized in SiO₂ matrix using Si ion implantation. Si ions were implanted into 300-nm-thick SiO₂ films grown on crystalline Si at energies of 30–55 keV, and with doses of 5×10¹⁵, 3×10¹⁶, and 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻². Implanted samples were subsequently annealed in an N₂ ambient at 500–1100°C during various periods. Photoluminescence spectra for the sample implanted with 1×10¹⁷ cm⁻² at 55 keV show that red luminescence (750 nm) related to Si-nanocrystals clearly increases with annealing temperature and time in intensity, and that weak orange luminescence (600 nm) is observed after annealing at low temperatures of 500°C and 800°C. The luminescence around 600 nm becomes very intense when a thin SiO₂ sample is implanted at a substrate temperature of 400°C with an energy of 30 keV and a low dose of 5×10¹⁵ cm⁻². It vanishes after annealing at 800°C for 30 min. We conclude that this luminescence observed around 600 nm is caused by some radiative defects formed in Si-implanted SiO₂.     

Doping of latent tracks in polyethylene by iodine diffusion

Anomalous iodine diffusion was observed on polyethylene implanted with 150 keV F⁺ and As⁺ ions (1×10¹¹−1×10¹⁵cm⁻²) and exposed to iodine vapours at 90°C.     

Structure and properties of molybdenum implanted with high-flux carbon ion

High purity molybdenum was implanted by C ion in a metal vapour vacuum arc (MEVVA) implanter. The influence of implantation parameters was studied by varying ion fluence and ion current density. The samples were implanted by 45 keV C ion with fluences from 1×10¹⁵ to 1×10¹⁸ ions/cm², respectively. The as-implanted samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and nanoindenter. Different morphologies were observed on the surfaces of the as-implanted samples due to irradiation damage, and clearly related to implantation parameters. XRD spectra confirm formation of β-Mo₂C with ion fluences equal to or larger than 1×10¹⁶ ions/cm², and formation of -Mo₂C with ion fluence of 1×10¹⁸ ions/cm². The maximum nanohardness and maximum modulus of the as-implanted samples increased gradually with increasing ion fluence, and reached the corresponding maximum values with ion fluence of 1×10¹⁸ ions/cm². The experimental results suggest that the structure and properties of the as-implanted Mo samples exhibited strong dependence on implantation parameters.     

The effects of hydrogen dose and thermal treatment on the formation of microsplits in hydrogen implanted GaAs

Transmission electron microscopy has been used to study the effect of thermal treatment on the formation of microsplits and damage rafts in hydrogen implanted (1 × 10¹⁶ and 5 × 10¹⁶ H⁺ cm^-2) and annealed (700 and 800°C) GaAs. The results show that microsplit and damage raft formation in implanted samples may be prevented if the samples are first given a pre-anneal heat treatment for 15 minute intervals at 300, 350, 400 and 450°C, during which the hydrogen concentration is reduced without allowing vacancy coalescence to take place.     

Comparison between MeV Ni and He ion-implanted planar optical waveguides in quartz

Optically polished crystalline quartz samples were implanted at room temperature by 2.6 MeV Ni⁺ ions with a dose of 9×10¹⁴ ions/cm² and 2.0 MeV He⁺ ions with a dose of 1.5×10¹⁶ ions/cm², respectively. A comparison of the MeV Ni⁺ ion-implanted planar waveguide formation was made with the MeV He⁺ ion-implanted one. The prism-coupling method was carried out to measure the dark modes in the quartz waveguides by using model 2010 prism coupler. Five modes were observed in the Ni⁺ implanted waveguide while 15 modes were found in the He⁺ ion-implanted one. Reflectivity calculation method was applied to fitting the refractive index profile. TRIM’98 (transport of ions in matter) code was used to simulate the damage profile in quartz by MeV Ni⁺ and He⁺ ions implantation, respectively. It is found that the refractive index profile in MeV Ni⁺ ions implanted waveguide is somewhat different in shape from that in MeV He⁺ ions implanted waveguide.     

Incorporation of hydrogen in CdTe and HgTe epitaxial layers grown by MOCVD

The incorporation of hydrogen into MOCVD-grown layers of CdTe, HgTe and CdHgTe using H₂ as the vector gas has been studied. Concentrations of incorporated H going from 6.5 × 10¹⁷ cm^-3 to 5 × 10¹⁸ cm^-3 have been found by SIMS in CdTe layers. This concentration decreases with increasing growth temperature and decreasing bond strength of the host material.     

Hydrogen action in the surface space charge region of highly doped silicon

The action of atomic hydrogen on clean cleaved (1 1 1) surfaces of highly doped silicon samples, both phosphorus ([n] = 2 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3) and boron ([p] = 4 × 10¹⁹ cm^-3) doped has been compared to the case of lightly doped samples ([n] = 1 × 10¹⁴ cm^-3). Once cleaved under ultra high vacuum, the samples were exposed to increasing doses of atomic hydrogen up to saturation. Before and after each hydrogen exposure, the Si(1 1 1) 2 × 1 surface was studied by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and photoemission yield spectroscopy (PYS). The compared PYS measurements show that H atoms adsorbed on the Si(1 1 1) surface at room temperature do totally compensate the shallow-acceptor impurities (boron) and only partially the shallow-donor impurities (phosphorus) in the space charge region. They also remove the surface dangling bond states. These effects are reversible upon heating under vacuum. Both surface stresses and space charge electric field play a role in this compensation effect.     

The effect of nitrogen ion implantation on tungsten surfaces

X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the phase, composition and chemical states of elements at the tungsten surface. The measurement results indicate that nitrogen-containing phase of tungsten were formed by nitrogen ion implantation (energy 40 keV, implantation doses of 4×10¹⁷, 8×10¹⁷ and 1.6×10¹⁸ ions/cm²). The formation of the W_x(O,N) and WN in the surface layer occurred as a result of nitrogen ion irradiation. A decrease in concentration of W_x(O,N) is observed with increasing N⁺ while that WN increases. Due to residual oxygen in the chamber WO₃ still exists at the surface of the specimen.     

Specific activity and derived intervention levels for Cesium-137 in Costa Rican export goods: Tuna fish, coffee and powdered milk

Cesium-137 is a fission product of ²³⁵U and ²³⁹Pu. After a major nuclear accident, it is released into the atmosphere and in the far field region it will produce radioactively contaminated food and drinking water. This paper will study the specific activity of ¹³⁷Cs in three Costa Rican export products: tuna fish, coffee and powdered milk. The average specific activities found are as follows: 0.89±0.41, 1.16±0.76 and 4.53±2.00 Bq kg⁻¹. They represent low values compared to their derived intervention levels: 1.25 × 10⁷, 1.25 × 10⁷ and 2.44 × 10⁵ Bq kg⁻¹, respectively.     

The influence of oxygen on the lattice sites of rare earths in silicon

We have used conversion electron emission channeling to investigate the lattice sites of ^167mEr following implantation of the radioactive isotope ¹⁶⁷Tm into CZ Si and FZ Si at varying doses (6×10¹² – 5×10¹³ cm⁻²). In all cases isothermal annealing at 900°C caused Er to leave its preferred near-tetrahedral sites in favour of random lattice sites, but this process occurred by orders of magnitude faster in CZ Si. Furthermore, in CZ Si the incorporation of Er on random lattice sites was fastest in samples implanted with low doses of Tm+Er. We compare our experimental results to a simple numerical model which accounts for the diffusion of Er and O and the formation of Er_nO_m complexes. On the basis of this model, our experimental data indicate that only a few (probably between 1 and 2) O atoms are required in order to remove an Er atom from its tetrahedral site.     

TEM study of the origin of the surface microroughness in DSL photoetched Si-implanted GaAs wafers

TEM has been used to study the origin of the surface microroughness that formed in both ²⁹Si as-implanted and rapid thermal annealed LEC undoped GaAs wafers after DSL photoetching. The degree of microroughness increased as the implant dose increased from 3 × 10¹² to 3 × 10¹⁴ atoms/cm². It has been found that such a microroughness is due to the fine-scale damage induced by the implantation in the as-implanted wafers and to interstitial dislocation loops in the implanted and then annealed wafers. Microroughness appears during DSL etching because such defects are effective recombination centres for the holes involved in the dissolution of the GaAs surface so that the wafers etch slower at the point-defect clusters and dislocation loops.     

Chemical effects of Ne bombardment on the MoS2(0001) surface studied by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy

The effect of 1 keV Ne⁺ bombardment on the clean MoS₂(0001)-1 × 1 surface with fluences between 4 × 10¹⁴ and 4 × 10¹⁶ Ne⁺/cm² was studied using high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy excited with synchrotron radiation. Spectra of the Mo 3d and S 2p core levels were measured with photon energies that ensured that the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons was the same, resulting in the same depth being probed for both core levels. For lower fluences (i.e., 2 × 10¹⁵ Ne⁺/cm²), S vacancy defect formation occurs in the MoS₂ lattice, with the concurrent formation of a small amount (< 10%) of dispersed elemental molybdenum [Mo(0)]. For fluences greater than l × 10¹⁶ Ne⁺/cm², the Mo(0) is the predominant species in the surface region, while the remaining species consist of amorphous MoS_2−x and polysulfide species. Valence band spectra taken with photon energies of 152 and 225 eV were consistent with the core level results. The movement of the valence band maximum toward the Fermi level indicated the formation of a metallic surface region. Annealing the sample to temperatures up to 1000 K resulted in the formation of metallic Mo coexisting, in approximately equal amounts, with reformed MoS₂ in a surface with no long-range order as determined by LEED. Finally, a qualitative depth distribution of the chemical species present after Ne⁺ bombardment was determined by varying the photon energies used for the core level spectra. The results indicate that the preferential sputtering of sulfur over molybdenum occurs predominantly through a mechanism involving chemical bonding effects, specifically, through the preferential emission of polysulfide ions over other species in the bombarded region.     

Optical absorption of isotopically enriched Li2B4O7 single crystals irradiated by thermal neutrons

Induced absorption spectra in the range 200–900 nm at 77 and 290 K for Li₂B₄O₇ single crystals, isotopically Li and B enriched are presented after irradiation of these crystals by thermal neutrons with fluence 1.8×10¹⁶ cm⁻². The dependence of induced absorption spectra on the isotope composition was revealed: for ⁶Li₂¹⁰B₄O₇ and ⁷Li₂¹⁰B₄O₇ crystals intensive band in the region of 280–294 nm was observed. Under substitution of ⁷Li isotope by ⁶Li in the lithium tetraborate lattice no changes in the absorption spectra were observed. The nuclear reaction ¹⁰B(n,)⁷Li is proposed to be the main mechanism of formation of the radiation defects.     

EPR study of erbium-impurity complexes in silicon

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements have been used to characterise Er complexes formed in FZ silicon by the implantation of erbium together with either oxygen or fluorine. The samples have a 2 μm thick layer containing 10¹⁹ Er/cm³ alone or in addition 3×10¹⁹ O/cm³, 10²⁰ O/cm³ or 10²⁰ F/cm³. Various post-implantation anneals were carried out. Several different erbium centres, which have either C_1h monoclinic or trigonal symmetry, are observed and the way in which the type of centre depends on the implantation and annealing conditions is reported.     

Erbium in silicon–germanium quantum wells

Strained Si_1−xGe_x/Si quantum wells have been doped with erbium by implantation. A comparison is made with strained Si_1−xGe_x/Si quantum wells and relaxed Si_1−xGe_x, with x between 10% and 25%, doped with erbium during MBE growth. The erbium concentration was between 1×10¹⁸ and 5×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ throughout the active regions. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and photoluminescence studies indicate that good regrowth can been achieved after full amorphisation by implantation of the strained quantum wells. The erbium luminescence is more intense in the Si_1−xGe_x/Si layers, but erbium-implanted samples containing Si_1−xGe_x exhibit defect luminescence in the region of 0.9–1.0 eV. These defects are also present when Si_1−xGe_x/Si quantum wells are implanted with an amorphising dose of silicon, and then regrown. They are attributed to small germanium-rich platelets, rather than to erbium-related defects. Electroluminescence is presented from a forward biased erbium-implanted Si_0.87Ge_0.13/Si structure at a drive current density of only 1.8 mA/cm².     

Domain wall pinning in polycrystalline perovskite La0.7Sr0.3MnO3

Reversible and irreversible domain wall (DW) motions have been investigated in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ ceramic samples using frequency-response complex permeability with various amplitudes of AC field. We also examine the effects of temperature in the range from 293 to 368 K and transverse DC magnetic field with a maximum of 4.40×10⁵ A/m on the real part of permeability (μ′). Two relaxations corresponding to reversible wall motions and domain rotations occur in low and high frequency regions, respectively. The irreversible DW displacements can be activated as the amplitude larger than the pinning field of 3 A/m, leading to an increase in μ′. The μ′ obeys a Rayleigh law at the temperature below 343 K or under DC field of less than 4.22×10⁴ A/m. The Rayleigh constant η increases from 5.45×10⁻² to 1.54×10⁻¹ (A/m)⁻¹ as the temperature rises from 293 to 343 K, and η decreases from 5.58×10⁻² to 3.67×10⁻² (A/m)⁻¹ with increasing DC field from 1.99×10³ to 4.22×10⁴ A/m.     

Study of cluster decay of Cm using SSNTD

Cluster decay of ²⁴²Cm with emission of ³⁴Si-particles was measured using track-recording phosphate glass detectors. The corresponding partial half-life is (1.4±0.3)×10²³ s. The branching ratio relative to decay is 1.0×10⁻¹⁶ and relative to spontaneous fission 1.6×10⁻⁹.     

The BCC to FCC/HCP phase transformation of the Co70Fe30 alloy produced by ion irradiation of Co70Fe30/Cu discontinuous multilayers

We report on the BCC to FCC/HCP structural transformation of Co₇₀Fe₃₀ alloy produced by room temperature ion irradiation of Co₇₀Fe₃₀/Cu discontinuous multilayers. The structural changes were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. For this study, two different samples were examined, one irradiated with 50 keV He⁺ and another with 600 keV Kr⁺ with doses of 1×10¹⁷ and 3×10¹⁵ ions/cm², respectively. No substantial change is observed after He⁺ irradiation, while after Kr⁺ irradiation an unexpected structural transition from BCC to FCC/HCP closed packed of the Co₇₀Fe₃₀ alloy was found.     

The origin of photoluminescence in Ge-implanted SiO2 layers

Ge ions were implanted at 100 keV with 3×10¹⁶ cm⁻² into a 300  nm thick SiO₂ layer on Si. Visible photoluminescence (PL) around 2.1 eV from an as-implanted sample is observed, and faded out by subsequent annealing at 900°C for 2 h. However, PL shows up again after annealing above 900°C at the same peak position. Compared with the as-implanted sample, significant increase of Ge–Ge bonds is measured in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and the formation of Ge nanocrystals with a diameter of 5 nm are observed in transmission electron microscopy from the sample annealed at 1100°C. We conclude that the PL peak from the sample annealed above 900°C is caused by the quantum confinement effects from Ge nanocrystals, while the luminescence from the as-implanted sample is due to some radiative defects formed by Ge implantation.     

Photoluminescence and paramagnetic defects in silicon-implanted silicon dioxide layers

Thermally grown SiO₂ layers on Si substrates implanted with Si⁺ ions with a dose of 6×10¹⁶ cm⁻² were studied by the techniques of photoluminescence, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and low-frequency Raman scattering. Distinct oxygen-vacancy associated defects in SiO₂ and non-bridging oxygen hole centers were identified by EPR. The luminescence intensity in the 620 nm range was found to correlate with the number of these defects. The low-frequency Raman scattering technique was used to estimate the average size of the Si nanocrystallites formed after the implantation and thermal annealing at T>1100°C, which are responsible for the photoluminescence band with a maximum at 740 nm. The intensity of this band can be significantly enhanced by an additional treatment of the samples in a low-temperature RF plasma.