Ion irradiation induced spontaneous hypersonic long-range stimulation of silicon nitride synthesis in silicon

We studied the nature of the effect of medium-energy ion implantation on the defect system of a crystal target over distances exceeding by three to four orders of magnitude the average projected range of ions in the target material. Recently, we discovered an especially strong manifestation of this long-range effect in crystal targets: argon ion bombardment stimulated the formation of a Si3N4 phase in nitrogen-saturated layers of a silicon wafer, the effect being observed at a distance of up to 600 μm away from the ion stopping zone. An analysis of changes in the electrical and optical properties of the nitrogen-saturated layer depending on the argon ion dose, in comparison to the morphology development on the ion-irradiated silicon surface, suggests that sufficiently effective pulsed sources of hypersonic (in the initial propagation stage) shock waves appear in the Ar+ ion stopping zone. These shock waves arise as a result of the jumplike formation and evolution of a network of dislocation loops and argon blisters, accompanied by explosions of the blisters. These processes probably proceed in a self-synchronized or spontaneous manner. Argon in the blisters occurs at T = 773 K in a solid state under a pressure of 4.5×109 Pa, the blister energy reaching up to 5×108 eV. Estimates show that the synchronized explosions of blisters in the region of a nitrogen-saturated layer at the rear side of a 600-μm-thick silicon wafer may produce a peak pressure at the wave front exceeding 108 Pa, which is sufficient to cause the experimentally observed changes.