A TEM and EDX study of cavities formed in tin by xenon ion implantation

A detailed transmission electron microscopy and EDX study has been carried out on cavities formed in tin by xenon ion implantation. Computer simulation of dark field images has identified thickness fringe contrast due to pyramidal {112} faceting on the otherwise {001} surfaces. Quantitative EDX measurements have shown that all the detectable xenon is associated with the cavities as a consequence of the high homologous implantation temperature, and that the larger of these are considerably underpressurized with respect to equilibrium pressure. These cavities have been shown to shrink when annealed, due to thermal emission of vacancies