How Vacancies Assist in the Formation of Antisite‐Complex Centers in 3C‐SiC during Ion Implantation

Ion‐beam irradiation onto a crystal often causes defects that cannot be completely annealed out. We had found a new candidate of such a thermally persistent defect in 3C‐SiC using an empirical Molecular Dynamics simulation at a high temperature of 2000 K. Although it emerged in minor cases (∼13%), it was a peculiar complex defect made of antisites (Csi(Sic)4) with a tetrahedral structure. Making use of a crystallographic analysis called the Pixel Mapping method, we studied the intermediate processes that lead to clustering. Whenever the tetrahedral clusters noticeably emerged, a cooperative motion of vacancies occurred remarkably in the long‐range‐order (LRO) of the crystal. A sudden change in the LRO profile linked with a burst of antisites, since then the new peculiar clusters was appreciably produced. The number of silicon antisite (Sic) was much more than the other one (Csi). From the same moment, the number of “antisite‐vacancy complex (Sic VSi)” also increased in tandem. We have confirmed that a coo...