Structural and phonon properties of InN synthesized by ion implantation in SiO2

Abstract Ion-implantation is a powerful technique for the formation of compound semiconductor nanocrystal precipitates in a host medium. The aim is to elaborate quantum dots for device technology purposes. High dose (5.2 × 10 16  ions/cm 2 ) implantations of Indium (In) and Nitrogen (N) ions have been performed in a 206 nm thick SiO 2 layer thermally grown on silicon. The implantation energies have been chosen from 12 to 180 keV to produce 5–10 at.% profiles overlapping at a mean depth of about 100 nm. Thermal treatments between 500 °C and 900 °C for different annealing times lead to the formation of InN nanometric precipitates and to cure the oxide defects. In addition, the In 2 O 3 and metallic indium phases have been observed. Their sizes, crystalline structures and depth distributions have been studied as a function of annealing temperature using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford back scattering spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy.