Annealing Effect on the Structural and Magnetic Properties of Mn-Implanted 6H-SiC

n-type 6H-SiC(0001) substrates were implanted with a fluence of Mn+ 5× 10¹⁶ (maximum Mn content of 7%), with implantation energy of 80 keV and substrate temperature of 365 °C to promote recrystallization. The samples were characterized using Rutherford backscattering and channeling (RBS/C) spectroscopy and electron probe microanalysis in the energy dispersive X-ray (EPMA-EDX) technique; while the magnetization was studied using a superconducting quantum interference device techniques. In the as-implanted sample, three well-defined specific defect zones were identified as deduced from the analysis of RBS/C spectra. It is shown that the two main vacancy-related and interstitial-related defects undergo limited changes when annealing at 800 °C, while a major recovery is obtained after annealing at 1100 °C. Strain relaxation was also observed upon annealing as determined from HRXRD. Magnetization was strongly reduced with increasing annealing temperature from 800 °C to 1600 °C. This effect seems to be related to the dilution effect (reduction of Mn content) due to the local diffusion of Mn as suggested from the results obtained using both RBS/C and EPMA-EDX techniques.