Bombardment induced light emission from silicon, silicon nitride and silicon carbide surfaces

Measurements have been made of the SiI 2882 A line emitted from Si, Si3N4 and SiC surfaces under 10 keV Ar+ ion bombardment. The results imply that the electronic structure of the bombarded material plays a significant role in determining the intensity of the optical emission. The intensity of the above mentioned line has been used to follow the formation of SiO2, Si3N4 and SiC compounds under 10 keV O2+, N2+ and C+ bombardments respectively. It is concluded that silicon dopant compounds can be partially formed by ion implantation. Nitride and carbide by ion implantation have been found to be more efficient than oxide formation. (author)