Formation and properties of high-dose nitrogen implanted epitaxially grown Gd2O3 on silicon

The effects of nitrogen incorporation by high-dose ion implantation in epitaxial Gd2O3 films on Si(111) followed by annealing have been investigated. Nitrogen incorporation is believed to occur by filling the oxygen vacancies or by removing hydroxyl group ions in gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3). The nitrogen content in the oxide layer has been altered by changing the implantation dose. The impact of nitrogen incorporation on Gd-O bonding is studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A shift in the Gd and O peak positions indicate the presence of nitrogen in the layer. Raman spectroscopy reveals heavy structural changes. The newly appearing structure is crystalline, but not in agreement with either the known bixbyite (Gd2O3) or rocksalt (GdN) structure. Electron microscopic investigations reveal the formation of cracks and small areas with lower densities or even voids. That structure exhibits similarities with transmission electron microscopy images of gadolinium nitride (GdN) layers. The electronic band ga...