Effects of Low-Energy Ion Implantation on the Physicochemical Properties of Si Oxides

Thin SiO2 films were obtained by implanting O2+ ions into Si
combined with thermal annealing. Oxide films obtained in an UHV setup by
thermal oxidation were also used for comparison. Auger electron spectra
revealed that these regions contain Si atoms (Figure 2). The degree of
coverage of the Si surface with silicon oxide was estimated by the ratio of the
area of the Auger peak L23VV of silicon in Si (91 eV) and in SiO2 (76 eV). By
varying the ion dose within the range from ~ 8•1015 to 4•1016, the sizes of
nanosites can be regulated within the range from 5 – 10 nm to 20 – 25. At D
≤ 8•1016 cm-2, the formation of an island film of SiO2 was observed. Based
on experimental studies, it was established that when bombarding SiO2 with
Ar+ ions in the surface region of SiO2 at low doses (D ≤5• 1015 cm-2),
individual nanocluster regions enriched with up to 50−60 at.%.