Ion-cut of Si facilitated by interfacial defects of Si substrate/epitaxial layer grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

We have shown that the Si/Si interface produced by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of Si on a Si substrate can significantly enhance the efficiency of ion cutting. MBE growth is performed at 650 °C. Samples are then implanted at room temperature by 62 keV H- to a dose of 7 × 10 16 ions/cm2. The implantation energy locates H-peak in the vicinity of the Si/Si interface, which is 600 nm below the Si surface. Scanning electron microscopy shows that, after post-implantation annealing at 300 °C for 50 min, the H implanted MBE Si has bubbles formed with an average diameters of 33 μm, which is around one order of magnitude larger than that observed in the control bulk silicon sample. It is also observed that the area covered with blisters is a factor of 2 larger for the MBE samples, a trend that is systematically observed for anneals carried out in the range of 300-550 °C. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved