Formation of neon induced cavities in silicon by plasma based ion implantation

Nanocavities and interstitial-type defects formed by neon plasma based ion implantation (PBII) in Si followed by annealing at 900 °C have been studied in comparison with conventional ion implantation. Implantations were performed at 250 °C and high fluence of ≈5 × 1016 cm−2. Using PBII, a rather uniform layer of cavities is observed from the surface. However, the mean diameter of cavities is smaller due to the interaction with the interstitial-type defects. In contrast with conventional implantation, these latter are created all over the cavity band because of the ion energy distribution that is characteristic of plasma based ion implantation.