Depth profile investigation of β-FeSi₂ formed in Si(1 0 0) by high fluence implantation of 50 keV Fe ion and post-thermal vacuum annealing

A single phase polycrystalline β-FeSi₂ layer has been synthesized at the near surface region by implantation in Si(1 0 0) of a high fluence (∼10¹⁷ atoms/cm²) of 50 keV Fe ions and subsequent thermal annealing in vacuum at 800 °C. The depth profile of the implanted Fe atoms in Si(1 0 0) were simulated by the widely used transportation of ions in matter (TRIM) computer code as well as by the dynamic transportation of ions in matter code (T-DYN). The simulated depth profile predictions for this heavy ion implantation process were experimentally verified using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) in combination with Ar-ion etching. The formation of the β-FeSi₂ phase was monitored by X-ray diffraction measurements. The T-DYN simulations show better agreement with the experimental Fe depth profile results than the static TRIM simulations. The experimental and T-DYN simulated results show an asymmetric distribution of Fe concentrated more toward the surface region of the Si substrate