Mechanisms and kinetics of ion implantation

Abstract

The evolution of the implant distribution during ion implantation at elevated temperatures has been theoretically studied using a comprehensive kinetic model. In the model foreign atoms, implanted into both interstitial and substitutional sites of the host lattice, could interact with implantation-induced point defects and with extended sinks such as the bombarded surface. The synergistic effects of preferential sputtering, radiation-enhanced diffusion, and radiation-induced segregation, as well as the influence of nonuniform defect production, were taken into account. The bombarded surface was allowed to move in either direction, − x or + x, depending on ion energy, i.e., on the competition between the rates of ion deposition and sputtering. The moving surface was accounted for by means of a mathematical technique of immobilizing the boundary. The ion implantation process was cast into a system of five coupled partial differential equations, which could be solved numerically using a suitable technique. Sample calculations were performed for two systems: Si⁺ and Al⁺ implantations into Ni. It has been known from previous studies that in irradiated Ni, Si atoms segregate in the same direction as the defect fluxes, whereas Al solutes migrate in the opposite direction. Thus the effects of different segregation mechanisms, as well as the influence of target temperature, ion energy, and implantation rate on the evolution of implant concentrations in time and space, could be examined with the present model.