Formation of large SiC nanocrystals on Si(1 0 0) by 12C implantation and electron beam annealing

Scanning electron microscopy and nuclear reaction analysis have been used to study annealing effects of 10 keV 12C implanted and electron beam annealed silicon (1 0 0) substrates that cause the formation of large SiC nanocrystals named nanoboulders on silicon. Wafer silicon was implanted with varying fluences from 0.38 to 1.14 × 1017 atoms cm−2 and subsequently annealed at 1000 °C for 15 s. The deuterium induced 12C(d, p)13C reaction was used to measure the 12C dose quantitatively. It was found that the implanted carbon remained in the specimen after annealing. This result, coupled with geometrical analyses of the resulting nanostructures suggest that following nucleation, the SiC nanocrystals grow as a result of C and Si diffusion across the substrate surface, that became oxide free during annealing under vacuum conditions.