Strain engineering 4H-SiC with ion beams

F.X. Zhang , Y. Tong , Haizhou Xue , J.K. Keum , Yanwen Zhang , A. Boulle (1) , A. Debelle (2) , W.J. Weber

1 IRCER - Institut de Recherche sur les CERamiques
2 CSNSM - Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière

Single crystals of 4H-SiC irradiated with 900 keV Si and 21 MeV Ni ions separately and sequentially were studied by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and Raman scattering. SiC irradiated with 900 keV Si ions to a fluence of 6.3 × 1014 ions/cm2 experiences 7.3% strain over the depth of 650 nm. Strain relaxation from ionization-induced annealing was directly observed due to subsequent irradiation with 21 MeV Ni ions to a fluence of 2 × 1014 ions/cm2. These competitive processes suggest the use of ion irradiation to create a specific strain state in 4H-SiC, particularly in films.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

F.X. Zhang, Y. Tong, Haizhou Xue, J.K. Keum, Yanwen Zhang, et al.. Strain engineering 4H-SiC with ion beams. Appl.Phys.Lett., 2019, 114 (22), pp.221904. ⟨10.1063/1.5109226⟩. ⟨hal-02192545⟩