Study of surface exfoliation induced by hydrogen implantation and annealing in GaSb (100) substrates

International audienceWe investigate the surface blistering/exfoliation in H-implanted GaSb (100) substrates. Samples were implanted by 50 keV hydrogen ions with a fluence of 5 × 10 16 and 1 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 at room temperature. Postimplantation annealing studies were carried out up to 300 °C to observe surface blistering. Interestingly, surface exfoliation over a large area was observed for both fluences after post-implantation annealing. High resolution Xray diffraction studies of the H-implanted samples showed the existence of damage-induced strain and its dependence on the hydrogen fluence. Microstructural investigations of the damage region have been carried out using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The width of the damage region and the formation of microstructures were found to depend on the fluence of hydrogen ions which eventually guides the surface blistering/exfoliation