Gettering of implanted Au in MeV?C implanted Si

The gettering behavior of 1 MeV?C implantation induced defects for Au (1.5 MeV, 2.2×10¹⁵ cm^-2), implanted into FZ Si(111), has been investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The gettering efficiency of the C implanted layer has been studied as a function of C dose, annealing temperature and time. For a C dose of 2×10¹⁶ cm^-2, a 2 h anneal at 950 °C has been found to result in a gettering efficiency going beyond ?90%. Thermal stability of the gettered Au in the C implanted layer has subsequently been investigated over a temperature range of 950–1150 °C using isochronal annealing. The gettered amount has been found to be stable up to 1050 °C beyond which there is a release. We have observed nanovoids in the C implanted layer surrounded by ?-SiC precipitates along with patches of a-SiC. Up to about 1050 °C, these nanovoids act as efficient gettering centers beyond which they seem to release the trapped Au. Four distinct regimes in annealing temperature with different mechanisms for Au gettering have been observed.