Solid-phase-epitaxial growth in ion-implanted silicon

The details of solid-phase-epitaxial (SPE) growth are obtained in ion-implanted silicon amorphous layers after furnace annealing in the temperature range 450 to 600 0C. The kinetics of amorphous-crystalline interfaces and the nature of residual damage in SPE grown layers are studied by high-resolution, cross-section electron microscopy. The number density of dislocation loops in the dislocation bands below the amorphous layers in as-implanted specimens are found to decrease with decreasing substrate temperature and increasing mass of the incident ions. Substitutional concentrations of solutes in 'defect-free' SPE grown layers are found to exceed retrograde solubility limits as much as a factor of 560 in Si-Bi system. Depending upon implantation conditions, the observed substitutional concentrations of antimony in silicon vary from (1.3 to 2.5) x 1021 cm-3 compared to retrograde solubility limit of 7.0 x 1019 cm-3. These observations are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical estimates of maximum concentrations. The solute concentrations in the excess of sol