Fluence dependant formation of β -SiC by ion implantation and thermal annealing

The β-SiC nanocrystals were synthesized by the implantation of carbon ions (C−) into silicon followed by high-temperature annealing. The carbon fluences of 1×1017, 2×1017, 5×1017, and 8×1017 atoms/cm2 were implanted at an ion energy of 65 keV. It was observed that the average size of β-SiC crystals decreased and the amount of β-SiC crystals increased with the increase in the implanted fluences when the samples were annealed at 1100 °C for 1 h. However, it was observed that the amount of β-SiC linearly increased with the implanted fluences up to 5×1017 atoms/cm2. Above this fluence the amount of β-SiC appears to saturate. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to characterize the samples.