Evidence of plastic flow and recrystallization phenomena in swift (∼ 100 MeV) Si7+ ion irradiated silicon

Abstract

Surface modifications caused by a swift heavy ion irradiation on a crystalline p-type silicon crystal have been reported. ∼ 100 MeV Si 7+ ions from a 15UD Pelletron source has been employed with varying fluence of 1012 and 1013 ionscm-2. Atomic force microscopy has been extensively used to study these surface modifications. Significant observation includes the evidence for a plastic flow upon irradiation. Attempts have been made to explain the results on the basis of radiation-induced amorphization followed by recrystallization. The observation confirms the occurrence of these types of effects in such irradiations and is in line with the models based on thermal spike approach. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.