Abstract
An amorphous-to-fine-grain-polycrystalline phase transformation has been observed during annealing of Sn-implanted Si when the peak Sn concentration exceeds about 2 at.%. At lower Sn concentrations, epitaxial growth is retarded in (100) Si but proceeds to completion with a large fraction of Sn residing on substitutional lattice sites. As the Sn concentration is increased, epitaxy is pre-empted by the sudden transformation of the near-surface Sn-doped region into polycrystalline Si. The time required to initiate the transformation is temperature dependent and is characterized by an activation energy of ∼1.7 eV. Rapid redistribution of Sn has been observed to accompany the transformation. Our observations are shown to be consistent with a melt-mediated crystallization process which is rate limited by Sn diffusion and precipitation in amorphous Si.
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Thornton, R.P., Elliman, R.G. & Williams, J.S. Amorphous-to-polycrystalline phase transformations in Sn-implanted silicon. Journal of Materials Research 5, 1003–1012 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1990.1003
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/JMR.1990.1003