AbstractDefects induced by ion implantation and subsequent annealing are found to either promote or suppress layer intermixing in Ill-V compound semiconductor superlattices (SLs). We have studied this intriguing relationship by examining how implantation and annealing conditions affect defect creation and their relevance to intermixing. Layer intermixing has been induced in SLs implanted with 220 keV Si+ at doses < 1 × 1014 ions/cm2 and annealed at 850°C for 3 hrs or 1050°C for 10 s. Upon furnace annealing, significant Si in-diffusion is observed over the entire intermixed region, but with rapid thermal annealing layer intermixing is accompanied by negligible Si movement. TEM showed that the totally intermixed layers are centered around a buried band of secondary defects and below the Si peak position. In the nearsurface region layer intermixing is suppressed and is only partially completed at ≤1 × 1015 Si/cm2. This inhibition is correlated to a loss of the mobile implantation-induced defects, which are responsible for intermixing.
