Lattice Disordering, Phase Transition, and Substrate Temperature Effects in MeV-ion-Implanted III-V Compound Semiconductors

An experimental study of lattice disordering, the crystalline-to-amorphous (c-a) phase transition, and substrate temperature effects in MeV-ion-implanted III-V compound semiconductor crystals is presented. A comparison has been made between the GaAs and InP systems, which have been implanted with 2 MeV oxygen ions at either room temperature (RT) or near liquid nitrogen temperature (LT). A strong in situ dynamic annealing has been found in the RT implanted GaAs, and the LT implanted GaAs exhibits heterogeneous (at the end-of-range of the ions) and homogeneous (at the subsurface region) c-a phase transitions. In InP crystals, in situ annealing is much less pronounced in RT implantation, and dose-dependent damage nucleation and layer-by-layer amorphization take place. LT implantation results in lattice disordering and phase transition with a critical dose at least one order lower than that for GaAs. The mechanisms and kinetics of lattice disordering by ion irradiation are also discussed.