Annealing of silver implanted 6H-SiC and the diffusion of the silver

Annealing and diffusion behavior of implanted silver in 6H-SiC has been investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), channeling, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Silver ( 109Ag +) ions with an energy of 360 keV were implanted in SiC to a fluence of 2 × 10 16 cm -2 at room temperature (23 °C), 350 and 600 °C. After implantation the samples were annealed at temperatures up to 1400 °C. The results revealed that implantation at room temperature created an amorphous layer of about 270 nm from the surface while implantation at 350 and 600 °C retained a crystalline structure with more damage created for 350 °C implantation compared to 600 °C. Diffusion of implanted Ag accompanied by loss from the surface started at 1300 °C in the amorphous SiC with no diffusion observed in the crystalline SiC. A new model explaining this diffusion of silver accompanied silver loss is presented. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.