Endotaxial growth of InSb nanocrystals at the bonding interface of the In+ and Sb+ ion implanted SOI structure

Growth of InSb nanocrystals at the Si/SiO₂ bonding interface of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures has been studied as a function of the annealing temperature. SOI structures with the ion implanted regions above and below the bonding interface were produced as a result of the hydrogen transfer of the Sb⁺ ion implanted silicon layer from first silicon substrate to the In⁺ ion implanted SiO₂ layer thermally-grown on the second silicon substrate. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) were used to study the properties of the prepared structures. Up-hill diffusion of In and Sb atoms from the implantation regions toward the bonding interface as well as subsequent interface-mediated growth of InSb nanocrystals were observed as the annealing temperature achieved 1100 °C. The strain minimizing orientations of the Si and InSb lattice heteropairs were obtained from XTEM analysis of the grown nanocrystals.