Crystallization of ion-beam-synthesized SiC layer by thermal annealing

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at temperatures ranging from 600 to 1200 °C for 2 h. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) analysis revealed carbon distribution and the formation of an SiC layer. Infrared spectroscopy (IR) exhibited a sharp absorption peak produced by the Si-C bond at 795 cm^-1 with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 35 cm^-1. A layer of crystalline SiC was formed after annealing the as-implanted sample at 1000 °C for 2 h. The influence of annealing temperature on the surface morphology and the dynamics of the crystallization procedure was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). A study of grain size and roughness revealed that the morphology of the SiC layer was largely dependent on annealing temperature, and the average grain size increased as the annealing temperature was raised. At about 900 °C, a layer of nanocrystalline SiC was formed on the sample surface, containing columnar grains with a FWHM of tens of nanometers and a height of less than ten nanometers.