Preparation of P-type indium phosphide films by close space vapor transport

InP films have been grown by close space transport employing 0.8 mol% PCl₃ in H₂. For deposition on InP single crystals, 700C source and 650C substrate temperatures produced epitaxial films on (100), polycrystalline films on (111)A, and powdery layers on (111)B. Growth rates are 6 to 10 |Gmm/hr on (100) InP and ~50 μm/hr on (111)A InP. Regardless of InP source doping, deposits exhibit net donor concentrations of 5×10¹⁷ to 1×10¹⁸cm^?3. Zn doping with 0.02 to 0.5 mol% Zn(C₂H₅)₂ in the gas phase resulted in partially compensated p-InP with net acceptor concentrations up to 7×10¹⁸cm^?3. Polycrystalline films have been grown on Mg-coated carbon or molybdenum substrates at 700C source and 590C substrate temperatures. Growth rates lie between 40 and 50 μm/hr. Substantial recrystallization and grain growth are observed after 2 day anneals at 950C under 5 atm of phosphorus.     

Characterization of ohmic contacts to InP

The results of a study of the electrical and metallurgical properties of thin metallic layers deposited on InP for use as ohmic contacts are presented. The layers were heat treated at temperatures up to 550°C and were examined with Auger electron spectroscopy. For contact to n-type InP three thin film systems were investigated: gold, nickel and a composite Ni/Au/Ge layer. Nickel was found to produce ohmic behavior in the Ni/Au/Ge/InP system with a minimum specific contact resistance r_c of 3×10^?5 Ω cm² for a net doping of 3×10¹⁶ cm^?3. For contact to p-type InP a film consisting of Au/Mg was investigated. For heat treatment of the Au/Mg/InP system above 350°C, r_c decreased as the temperature of the heat treatment increased and the surface morphology exhibited increasing signs of alloying at higher temperatures. The smoothest surface was obtained at 446°C for 50 min with r_c≈1×10^?4Ω cm² for a net doping of 6×10¹⁷ cm^?3.     

Effect of silicon ion implantation on the properties of a cast Co–Cr–Mo alloy

The effect of silicon ion implantation upon the corrosion resistance and structure of the cast Co–Cr–Mo alloy of the Vitalium type, was examined. The silicon fluences were 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 × 10¹⁷Si⁺ cm^-2. The surface layer of the Vitalium samples implanted with these silicon doses was found to become amorphous. Further annealing of the samples at 200 °C resulted in the Cr₃Co₅Si₂ phase being formed, whereas the amorphous layer was preserved. The Vitalium samples submerged in the 0.9% NaCl solution underwent mainly uniform corrosion, irrespective of whether or not they had been implanted with Si⁺ ions. With increasing doses of implanted silicon and after annealing at 200 °C (samples implanted with 1.5 × 10¹⁷Si⁺ cm^-2), the corrosion resistance increased. The thickness of the oxide layer formed during the anodic polarization depended on the implanted silicon doses. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of deposition conditions on the InP thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis method

InP thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique using aqueous solutions of InCl₃ and Na₂HPO₄, which were atomized with compressed air as carrier gas. The InP thin films were obtained on glass substrates. Thin layers of InP have been grown at various substrate temperatures in the range of 450–525°C. The structural properties have been determined by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The changes observed in the structural phases during the film formation in dependence of growth temperatures are reported and discussed. Optical properties, such as transmission and the band gap have been analyzed. An analysis of the deduced spectral absorption of the deposited films revealed an optical direct band gap energy of 1.34–1.52 eV for InP thin films. The InP films produced at a substrate temperature 500°C showed a low electrical resistivity of 8.12 × 10³ Ω cm, a carrier concentration of 11.2 × 10²¹ cm⁻³, and a carrier mobility of 51.55 cm²/Vs at room temperature.     

Electrically conducting thin films obtained by ion implantation in pyrolyzed polyacrylonitrile

Heat treatment of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) leads to products with semiconductor-to-metal range of conductivities. The electrical properties of these materials are further modified by ion implantation. The conductivity, 1×10^–7 (Ω cm)^–1, of heat treated PAN at 435°C (PAN435) increases upon ion implantation with As⁺, Kr⁺, Cl⁺ or F⁺, reaching the maximum value of 8.9×10^–1 (Ω cm)^–1 at a dose of 5×10¹⁶ ion/cm² and an energy of 200 KeV for the case of F⁺ implantation. On the other hand, ion implantation in the more conducting heat-treated PAN at 750 °C (PAN750) leads to a decrease in the electrical conductivity. It is shown that the conductivity modifications are primarily due to structural rearrangements induced by the energetic ions. Specific chemical doping contribution to conductivity is noted for halogen implantation in PAN435. The temperature dependence of conductivity of PAN heat treated at 750°C suggests a two path conduction, namely a three dimensional variable range hopping conduction and a metallic conduction. After ion implantation, the conductivity-temperature dependence is interpreted in terms of a variable range hopping conduction mechanism. Received: 25 August 2000 / Reviewed and accepted: 28 August 2000     

Vapor growth of thin heteroepitaxial InP films on CdS

InP was heteroepitaxially deposited onto CdS single-crystal substrates by chemical vapor deposition using phosphine (PH₃), HCl and indium as reactants. Single-crystalline films were deposited at substrate temperatures as low as 450°C. Scanning Auger microscopy shows that the films are InP and that formation of solid solutions between the CdS and the InP is minimal. The as-grown films are n type with residual donor densities of 4 × 10¹⁶–4 × 10¹⁷ cm^-3.     

Transmission electron microscopy of Li+ implanted Al films

Aluminium films implanted with 30 keV lithium ions of doses from 2.2 × 10¹⁶ to 1 × 10¹⁷ ions cm^?2 were studied by transmission electron microscopy. Samples implanted with 6 × 10¹⁶ and 1 × 10¹⁷ ions cm^?2 showed the presence of the Al-Li phase, while no change was observed in specimens implanted with 2.2 × 10¹⁶ ions cm^?. Microdiffraction patterns obtained from different areas of an aluminium film implanted with 2.0 × 10¹⁷ Li⁺ ions cm^?2 at 35 keV, revealed the presence of a stable Al-Li phase along with a metastable phase. Furthermore, on annealing the implanted samples at 200°C for 20 min an increase in ‘d’ values was noticed when compared with non-annealed specimens. However the annealed samples showed a very small lattice mismatch between the metastable phase and the Al matrix, thus indicating the presence of a metastable Al₃Li phase, responsible for hardening in binary Al-Li alloy.     

IR and x-ray studies of ion-beam-synthesized aluminium nitride films

IR transmission spectroscopy in conjunction with X-ray diffraction was used to characterize the phase composition of aluminium films after nitrogen ion implantation. Aluminium films deposited onto single-crystal silicon and implanted with 30 keV nitrogen ions (¹⁴N₂⁺) to a dose of 10¹⁷-10¹⁸ ions cm^-2 were subsequently characterized for aluminium nitride (AIN) formation by IR spectroscopy. The formation of a stoichiometric AIN layer was evident from the IR absorption band observed at 648 cm^-1. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction of an aluminium foil after nitrogen implantation at 110 keV to a dose of 5.0 × 10¹⁷ ions cm^-2 on each side revealed the presence of a polycrystalline AIN phase. A thermal treatment at 700°C did not yield any new crystalline phases.     

Molecular beam epitaxial growth of high-quality InP layers from solid phosphorus using a valved phosphorus cracker cell

We report the molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth of epitaxial InP using a valved phosphorus cracker cell at a range of cracking-zone temperatures (T_cr = 875–950°C), V/III flux ratios (V/III = 1.2–9.3) and substrate temperatures (T_s = 360–500°C). The as-grown epitaxial InP on an InP (100) substrate is found to be n-type from Hall measurements. The background electron concentration and mobility exhibit a pronounced dependence on the cracking-zone temperature, V/III flux ratio and substrate temperature. Using a T_cr of 850°C, the highest 77 K electron mobility of 40 900 cm² (V s)⁻¹ is achieved at a V/III ratio of 2.3 and a T_s of 440°C. The correponding background electron concentration is 1.74 × 10¹⁵ cm⁻³. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra show two prominent peaks at 1.384 and 1.415 eV, with the intensity of the low-energy peak becoming stronger at higher cracking-zone temperatures. The lowest PL FWHM achieved at 5 K is 5.2 meV. Within the range of substrate temperatures investigated, the effect on the crystalline quality determined from X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements is not significant.     

Formation of AlN by nitrogen ion implantation

The phase composition of aluminium after bombardment with doses from 1 × 10¹⁶ to 1 × 10¹⁸ N⁺ ions cm^-2 is investigated by high voltage electron microscopy and selected area diffraction. This implantation always produced polycrystalline aluminium nitride (AlN). A thermal treatment to 600 °C did not yield new crystalline phases. At low temperatures the growth of AlN precipitations takes place mainly coherently as a result of a high vacancy density. Larger AlN precipitations grow similarly to the Ostwald ripening process. In this process incoherent precipitations are associated with a high dislocation density with an anisotropic distribution.     

Effect of Hf ion implantation on grain growth in Ni nanocrystalline electrodeposits

Abstract

The microstructural stability of Ni nanocrystalline electrodeposits was investigated to verify general principles underlying the suppression of grain growth by microalloying with elements of very low solid solubility. Hf ions at 300 keV energy were implanted in Ni nanocrystalline foils at low (5·8 × 10¹⁵ ions cm^?2) and high (3·0 × 10¹⁶ ions cm^?2) doses. Their effects on grain growth at 550°C were studied in situ by transmission electron microscopy at 1·25 MeV and by selected area electron diffraction. Grains roughly doublled in size during implantation, but grain growth during subsequent heat treatment was dose dependent and significantly less than in specimens without implantation. Observation on implanted Ni single crystals revealed clustering and the formation of fine Ni₅Hf precipitates. A possible mechanism of grain growth suppression is discussed.     

Ion probe technique for the study of gallium diffusion in silicon nitride films

The penetration of Ga in films of amorphous Si₃N₄ about 2000 Å thick on Si substrates has been studied. The films were produced by pyrolysis. Diffusion profiles were obtained by surface exposure to Ga vapor, and the implantation profiles by ion bombardment in an isotope separator. Evaluation of the profiles was effected by means of sputtering in a secondary ion microanalyzer. For depth calibration, ion yield profiles of ⁶⁹Ga⁺ of ⁷¹Ga⁺ were compared with the profiles of ³⁰Si⁺, ⁷⁰(Si₂N⁺, SiN⁺₃) and ⁷²Si₂O⁺. The integration of implantation peaks furnished a means of obtaining absolute values of Ga concentrations from the secondary ion intensities. Hence the surface concentration of vapor-deposited Ga at 1100°C was assessed to be of the order of 8 × 10²⁰ atoms cm^-3. The diffusion coefficient of Ga in Si₃N₄ at 1100°C was found to be about 5 × 10^-17 cm² s^-1. The method, which combines sputtering and mass spectrometry, appears to be applicable for measuring diffusion coefficients in this system down to about 3 × 10^-18 cm² s^-1.     

Nitrogen ion implantation effects on the structural,optical and electrical properties of CdSe thin film

In the present study, thin films of cadmium selenide (CdSe) are deposited on ITO substrate by electrodeposition method using aqueous solution of 3CdSO₄·8H₂O and SeO₂. These films are implanted with 40 keV N⁺ ions with different fluencies i.e. 1?×?10¹⁵, 5?×?10¹⁵, 1?×?10¹⁶ and 5?×?10¹⁶ ions/cm² using a beam current of 0.9 µA. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of pristine and nitrogen ion-implanted CdSe thin films are analyzed using XRD, SEM, AFM, UV-PL Spectrophotometer and I–V four probes setup. XRD analysis revealed the effects of nitrogen ions on the structural parameters such as grain size, FWHM, micro strain and dislocation density etc. Crystallanity of the material increased with increase in implantation dose. SEM and AFM analysis show decrease in the surface roughness with implantation. From the optical studies, band gap value decreased from 2.50 to 2.29 eV with increase in N⁺ implantation doses. Noticeable changes in the electrical properties are also reported. The effect of N⁺ ion implantation on the properties of CdSe thin films are discussed on the basis of lattice disorder.     

Mechanisms of carriers transport in Ni/n-SiC, Ti/n-SiC ohmic contacts

A mechanism of carriers transport through metal-semiconductor interface created by nickel or titanium-based ohmic contacts on Si-face n-type 4H-SiC is presented herein. The mechanism was observed within the temperature range of 20 °C ÷ 300 °C which are typical for devices operating at high current density and at poor cooling conditions. It was found that carriers transport depends strongly on concentration of dopants in the epitaxial layer. The carriers transport has thermionic emission nature for low dopant concentration of 5×10¹⁶ cm^?3. The thermionic emission was identified for moderate dopant concentration of 5×10¹⁷ cm^?3 at temperatures higher than 200 °C. Below 200 °C, the field emission dominates (for the same doping level of 5×10¹⁷ cm^?3). High dopant concentration of 5×10¹⁸ cm^?3 leads to almost pure field emission transport within the whole investigated temperature range.     

Formation of thin SiO2 films by high dose oxygen ion implantation into silicon and their investigation by IR techniques

The ion dose dependence of the infrared transmission spectra of SiO₂ layers formed by high dose ion implantation into silicon was investigated for ion doses ranging from $\text{10}{}^{16}\text{to}\text{2 × 10}{}^{18}\text{(}{}^{16}\text{O}{}_2\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{30}\text{kV ions cm}{}^{-2}$. The annealing temperature dependence of these spectra is also reported.The passivation properties of the SiO₂ layers and their dependence on annealing were investigated and monitored by IR techniques. It was found that an SiO₂ layer that is formed by implantation with 1 × 10¹⁸ ions cm^-2 and annealed at temperatures higher than 550 °C but not more than 800 °C is similar in its IR and passivation properties to thermally grown SiO₂ films.     

Ion damage in synthetic quartz

Synthetic quartz was exposed to 3 MeV N⁺ ions at fluences ranging from 4 × 10¹³ N⁺/cm² to 2 × 10¹⁶ N⁺/cm² and was then examined by transmission electron microscopy. Electron micrographs revealed the presence of defect clusters and selected area diffraction showed a loss in crystallinity with increasing ion fluence. The extent to which these defects could be removed by annealing depended upon the ion fluence. Dauphiné twins which formed upon cooling from temperatures above the alpha-beta inversion temperature were smaller and more numerous than in the undamaged material. After annealing to 790°C and cooling, the twins which formed were larger because of removal of much of the damage.     

Electrocatalytic behaviour of titanium implanted with nickel and molybdenum ions

Abstract

The electrocatalytic activity of titanium induced by ion implantation has been investigated. Ion implantation was carried out using a metal vapour vacuum arc source ion implanter at room temperature. Nickel ion implantation was followed by molybdenum ion implantation at doses ranging from 1 × 10¹⁶ to 1 × 10¹⁷ ions/cm² at the same average extracting voltage of 45 kV. The concentration profiles of Ni and Mo ions in the near surface were detected by electron probe microanalysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalytic behaviour of implanted titanium was determined by an electrochemical method. Potential versus current density curves for the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction indicated that Ni and Mo ions implanted into titanium electrodes resulted in a low hydrogen overvoltage of 110-180 mV (at a current density of 200-400 mA cm^-2 in 30 wt-%KOH at 25°C) and excellent stability. The electrocatalytic activity induced by ion implantation can be explained provisionally by interactions between Ni and Mo ions and the titanium substrate.     

Structural and electrical characteristics of epitaxial InP layers on porous substrates and the parameters of related Au-Ti Schottky barriers

The structures comprising three epitaxial InP layers—buffer (n ⁺⁺), active (n), and contact (n ⁺)—were grown by liquid phase epitaxy on porous and compact (control) InP(100) substrates. High quality of the active n-InP layer obtained on a porous substrate (in comparison to the control samples) is confirmed by the values of the halfwidths of the (311) X-ray diffraction reflections (54″ versus 76″), dislocation concentration (5×10²−5×10³ cm⁻² versus 5×10⁴−5×10⁵ cm⁻²), and electron mobility (4000 cm²/V s versus 3000–3500 cm²/V s). Using these homoepitaxial InP structures, Au-Ti Schottky diodes with a working mesastructure area of ∼1.8￠10⁻⁶ cm² were prepared. It was found that diodes based on the porous substrates are characterized by significantly smaller leak currents and higher breakdown voltages as compared to those of the control diodes: 1 nA, 27 V versus 200 nA, 15 V.     

Planar optical waveguides formed in β-BBO by MeV O+ implantation

The planar waveguides have been fabricated in z-cut β-BaB₂O₄ crystal by 2.8 MeV O⁺ ion implantation with the doses of 8 × 10¹⁴ and 2 × 10¹⁵ ions/cm² at room temperature. The waveguides were characterized by the prism-coupling method. The dark modes are measured before and after the annealing at 300°C for 20 and 40 min in air. The refractive index profile is reconstructed using the reflectivity calculation method. It is found that relatively large positive changes of extraordinary refractive indices happen in the guiding regions, and a slight change increases with the doses, which are different from most of the observed ion-implanted waveguides.     

Effect of 80 keV Ar+ implantation on the properties of pulse laser deposited magnetite (Fe3O4) thin films

Highly oriented thin films of Fe₃O₄ were deposited on (100) LaAlO₃ substrates by pulsed laser ablation. The structural quality of the films was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The films showed a Verwey transition near 120 K. The films were subjected to 80 keV Ar⁺ implantation at different ion doses up to a maximum of 6 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². Ion beam induced modifications in the films were investigated using XRD and resistance vs temperature measurements. Implantation decreases the change in resistance at 120 K and this effect saturates beyond 3 × 10¹⁴ ions/cm². The Verwey transition temperature,T _V, shifts towards lower temperatures with increase in ion dose.