High-Fluence Implantation of Erbium into Silicon-Germanium Alloys: Structural and Thermal Properties

AbstractHigh-quality crystalline Si1-xGex (x=0.10 and 0.25) alloys were implanted with 70 keV Er+ ions at temperatures of 350°C and 550°C to a fluence of 1015 cm−2. In-situ Rutherford backscattering/channeling (RBS) analysis supplemented with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that as-implanted alloys were in form of ternary solid solutions with a peak Er concentration of 1 at.% without any trace of Er-Si or Er-Ge precipitation.In the samples implanted at 350°C Er atoms were found to be distributed randomly in the amorphous host matrix. Post-implantation annealing at different temperatures up to 600° showed that the solid phase epitaxial regrowth of the damaged layers strongly de…