Impact of dopant profiles on the end of range defects for low energy germanium preamorphized silicon

As the industry continues to aggressively scale CMOS technology, the shift to lower energy ion implantation becomes essential. The consequent shallower amorphous layers result in dopant profiles that are in closer proximity to the end of range (EOR) damage and therefore a better understanding of the interaction between the dopant atoms and the EOR is required. A study is conducted on the influence of dopant profiles on the behavior of the EOR defects. Czochralski-grown silicon wafers are preamorphized with 1 × 1015 cm−2, 10 keV Ge+ ions and subsequently implanted with 1 × 1015 cm−2, 1 keV B+ ions. A sequence of rapid thermal and furnace anneals are performed at 750 °C under a nitrogen ambient for periods of 1 s up to 6 h. Plan view transmission electron microscopy (PTEM) reveals a significant difference in the defect evolution for samples with and without boron, suggesting that the boron influences the evolution of the EOR defects. The extended defects observed for samples which contain boron appear as dot-like defects which are unstable and dissolve after very short anneal times. The defect evolution however, in samples without boron follows an Oswald ripening behavior and form {3 1 1}-type defects and dislocation loops. Hall effect measurements denote a high initial activation and subsequent deactivation of the dopant atoms which is characteristic of the formation of boron interstitial clusters. Diffusion analyses via secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) support this theory.