Effect of thermal treatment regimes on the composition, structure and optical properties of silicon layers implanted with in and as ions

An urgent task of modern optoelectronics is to extend the spectral sensitivity of silicon into the infrared region for the development of efficient photodetectors and solar cells. A promising approach is the formation of nanocrystals of narrow-gap A³B⁵ semiconductors, in particular indium arsenide (InAs), in the near-surface layer of silicon by ion implantation followed by thermal annealing. The effect of various annealing regimes (furnace annealing, pulsed ion, pulsed laser and rapid thermal annealing) on the depth distribution of implanted indium and arsenic ions in monocrystalline silicon, the structural perfection of doped layers and their optical properties has been investigated. Using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy and optical spectrophotometry, it was found that rapid thermal annealing at 1400 °C with a hold time of 3 s provides the maximum degree of crystallinity of the silicon matrix (92.2 %) and promotes the formation of nanocrystalline layer. Furnace annealing at 1000 °C for 30 min results in the highest fraction of impurity atoms in substitutional lattice sites (44.8 %), indicating efficient electrical and optical activation of the impurity. It is shown that all studied annealing regimes significantly increase the absorption of silicon in the near-infrared range compared to undoped material, with the maximum absorption coefficients (up to 68 % in the IR region) recorded after pulsed ion annealing. The obtained results demonstrate the possibility of controlling the optical properties of silicon by choosing the post-implantation annealing regime and can be used for the development of silicon-based infrared photodetectors.

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