Ion implantation

A review with 11 references is presented under the following headings: physical processes involved; ion implanted Si devices; compound semiconductor devices; equipment used; and ion implantation of metals. It is stated that the technique has proved very successful for the fabrication of semiconductor devices in spite of competition with well established processes each as thermal diffusion or epitaxy and in spite of the requirement for expensive accelerators and vacuum equipment. Reasons for the succes of the technique are given. (U.K.)