Ion-bomdardment-enhanced grain growth in germanium, silicon, and gold thin films

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6085880

Atwater, H A; Thompson, C V; Smith, H I

Grain growth was studied in polycrystalline thin films of germanium, silicon, and gold during ion bombardment. The phenomenon was characterized by varying the ion dose, ion energy, ion flux, ion species, substrate temperature, and thin-film deposition conditions. Films bombarded with Si(+), Ar(+), Ge(+), Kr(+), and Xe(+) exhibited enhanced grain growth that was as weakly temperature dependent and proportional to the energy deposited in elastic collisions at or very near grain boundaries. The effect of these parameters on grain size and microstructure was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using transmission electron microscopy. A transition state model describing the motion of grain boundaries during ion bombardment was applied to the present experimental data. The results suggest that bombardment-enhanced grain growth may be due to thermal migration of bombardment-generated defects across the boundary. The calculated defect yield per incident ion was found to be directly related to enhanced grain growth, and was used to estimate the number of atomic jumps at the grain boundary per defect generated. Grain growth rates during bombardment and thermal annealing were related to their respective point defect populations.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Research Lab. of Electronics
• OSTI ID: 6085880
• Report Number(s): AD-A-203072/4/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360605* -- Materials-- Radiation Effects
ANNEALING
CHARGED PARTICLES
COLLISIONS
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DATA
DEPOSITION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FILMS
GERMANIUM
GOLD
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN GROWTH
GRAIN SIZE
HEAT TREATMENTS
INFORMATION
ION DENSITY
IONS
METALS
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
MIGRATION
MOTION
NUMERICAL DATA
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
POINT DEFECTS
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SIZE
SUBSTRATES
THERMAL RADIATION
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS