A simple method of improving laser beam homogenity has been developed. A cylindrical quartz pipe, acting as a lightguide, has been applied for dispersion of the components of the laser beam (microbeams), thus providing more uniform illumination of the sample’s surface. The effects of such a homogenizer have been studied by means of X-ray transmission topography [4–5] and 2-MeV 4 He-ion channeling. The samples were ≤111≥ Si wafers implanted with 100 keV As and Bi ions to a dose of 1016/cm2. It has been observed that the shallow residual damage layer which exists in the directly irradiated samples is not present in the samples irradiated through the homogenizer.

The influence of the laser annealing on the defect structure of the near-surface layer of silicon crystal implanted with 40 keV Ge ions is reported. Evolution of defect structure during nanosecond pulse laser annealing is characterised by means of several complementary methods: reflection high-energy electron diffraction, interference-polarizing microscopy, Rutherford back-scattering and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Regions irradiated with different energy densities of the laser beam are compared. The role of the dopant in the layer recrystallised from the melt is discussed.

A Si single crystal was implanted with a 5·1015 cm−2 dose of 80 keV Si ions. We report the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the structural changes induced by ultraviolet laser pulse in this crystal. The structural changes in the near-surface region were examined by means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction, Rutherford backscattering and interference-polarizing Nomarski microscopy. Numerical calculations of transient temperature profiles in the irradiated target were performed in order to evaluate the threshold and the optimal value of the radiation energy density, and to determine the temperature profiles in the annealed region. The obtained results were compared with previous findings of a defect structure in a laser annealed Si crystal matrix implanted with Ge ions. The formation of an extended defect structure on the surface of the annealed areas where melting and solidification occur was observed. The creation of this structure is a result of the relaxation of stresses caused by inhomogeneous heating and inhomogeneous cooling of the melted near-surface layer and it is independent of the introduced dopant.

In the present paper the results of investigations of the recrystallisation process in amorphous Ge near-surface layers induced by laser annealing are reported. Amorphised layers were created by implantation of Ge single crystal with 150 keV Sn ions at a dose 1×1016 cm−2. Structural changes and redistribution of dopants were caused in irradiated materials by a single nanosecond laser pulse. For a study of the near-surface layer structure before and after laser annealing, the reflection high-energy electron diffraction technique was applied. Dopant diffusion was investigated by means of secondary ion mass spectrometry. Changes for polycrystalline of the near-surface layer structure amorphised by Sn implantation, occurred independently of the phase transitions and of the dopant concentration (0–8%).

A very disturbed near-surface layer was formed by Sn-ion implantation in a Si single crystal. For crystal lattice reconstruction of this layer and for change of the dopant distribution pulsed laser annealing was applied. In order to determine the optimal value of the energy density of laser pulse numerical calculations were performed. The experiments carried out by means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction and by Rutherford backscattering have shown that laser annealing caused the formation of the epitaxial Si1−xSnx layer. A good crystal quality of this layer, comparable with the quality of the single crystal Si matrix, as well as a good substitutional location of the Sn dopant atoms were obtained for the laser beam energy density value equal to the calculated optimal one.

A slab formed sample cut out from low doped Czochralski-grown silicon crystal was implanted with 117 MeV (3 MeV/nucleon) At ions to the dose 5 X 10(14) cm(-2) and thermally annealed at 400 and 700degreesC. The crystal was characterized with a number of complementary X-ray diffraction methods. The annealing did not completely remove the lattice strain induced by the implantation. The residual strain caused the series of interference maxima on the low angle side of the substrate maximum in the rocking curves. The rocking curves were different in different regions of the implanted area and characteristic fringes in plane wave topographs were observed. The analysis of rocking curves including the numerical simulation pointed to the existence of a local strain profile maximum situated below the shot-through layer with a relatively small deformation. The Bragg-case section topography experiment indicated a layer containing non-resolvable defects situated at the depths corresponding to the average ion range. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The paper is a study of the microstructure of as grown semiconducting and semi-insulating GaAs crystals, as well as of fine structural changes induced in both materials by the implantation with a 5×1014 cm−2 dose of 3 MeV/amu nitrogen ions. X-ray measurements were carried out by means of a high-resolution diffractometer. The rocking curves of two as-grown GaAs samples studied are symmetrical. The rocking curve measured for the implanted semi-insulating crystal is broadened, while that for the implanted semiconducting crystal reveals a diffused subsidiary peak on the low angle side of the main maximum, indicating the presence of tensile stresses in the damaged layer at a depth of the mean ion range. The mathematical analysis of the reciprocal space maps gives a quantitative description of the experimental results.

An annealing with the nanosecond laser light pulse is applied for crystal lattice reconstruction of a disturbed near-surface layer, which was created in semiconductor material as a result of the implantation process. Radiation with energy density higher than the threshold value causes the melting of the surface layer and then the epitaxial recrystallization from the melt on a different substrate. Structural changes occurring in the Ge implanted Si crystals after annealing with different energy densities are investigated by means of the cross-section high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

A study of the thin gold film growth, during the deposition on glass substrate under UHV conditions at low temperatures, is presented. The complementary methods, the atomic force microscopy and grazing incidence X-ray reffectometry, are used for the research. It is shown that due to variation of the time of deposition from 2 to 50 min different kinds of thin An films nanostructures are obtained: from discontinuous films consisting of isolated islands, via formation of the chains of islands, up to continuous films.

The paper presents high-resolution X-ray diffraction studies performed for Si single crystal: as-grown, implanted with a 5 x 10(14) ions . cm(-2) dose of 3 MeV/n Ar ions, as well as implanted and annealed in a very high vacuum. The results are discussed on the basis of rocking curves and the mathematical analysis of the reciprocal space maps. It is shown that the lattice parameter is increased in an implanted part of the crystal, but long distance lattice curvature is not present. After annealing full relaxation of the crystal is stated.

A study of discontinuous thin gold films deposited on glass substrate under UHV conditions is presented. The comparative analysis of surface roughness determined by means of three complementary methods, the grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry, atomic force microscopy, and BET, is performed. A good agreement was found for the results obtained by different methods.

In the present paper the orthorhombic microdefects detected in a Si single-crystal sample are analysed on the basis of theoretical simulations exactly matching the experimental x-ray diffuse scattering map. The mean radius of microdefects is estimated to be smaller than 0.1 µm.

An analysis of extended defects generated during annealing by pulsed excimer laser radiation in silicon crystals implanted with Ge ions is presented. The investigation was performed by means of two complementary methods: the interference-polarizing microscopy and the Lang X-ray transmission topography. The existence of extended defects was revealed. It has been stated that the distribution of these defects depends on the distribution of the power density in the laser beam cross-section.

The influence of the implantation with fast nitrogen ions on GaAs single crystal structure is studied by several methods. The energy of nitrogen ions was 2.85 MeV/n and the dose was 5×1014 cm−2. The scanning electron microscopy experiments have revealed that a damaged buried layer was created at a depth of 20 μm. The mathematical analysis of reciprocal space maps has shown that the N2+ ion shot-through layers are only slightly deformed, whereas larger deformations, consisting in the existence of small areas of larger lattice parameter and local bending, are induced in the implanted part of the crystal.

The research of the surface roughness of oxidated silicon crystals by means of complementary methods, namely, grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry and scanning electron microscopy, are reported The surfaces of Cz-Si single crystals were covered with SiO2. overlayers prepared in control way. The thickness and density of the SiO2 overlayers were determined by ellipsometry. For both primary silicon wafers, the surface roughness was the same and equal to 12 Angstrom. The oxidation of them caused the increase in the surface roughness to about 21 Angstrom. The complementary scanning electron microscopy investigations showed the real structure of surfaces studied, confirming the X-ray results.

An analysis of X-ray rocking curves and reciprocal space maps recorded for silicon single crystals before and after implantation with a 5×1014-cm−2 dose of 3 MeV/n nitrogen ions is presented. Silicon single crystals of orientation (100) were obtained by the Czochralski method. X-ray investigations were performed by means of a high-resolution Philips diffractometer using the characteristic CuKα1 radiation, and the integral reflectivities were measured with a double crystal diffractometer using the characteristic AgKα1 radiation. It was stated that irradiation with fast nitrogen ions can create extended defects as well as formation of nano-areas of disordered structure in the silicon crystal. An increase in the surface roughness was also determined from the grazing incidence X-ray reflectivity measurements.

The comparative analysis of surface roughness determined by using two complementary methods, the grazing incidence X-ray reflectometry (GIXR) and the atomic force microscopy (AFM), is presented. The (100) surfaces of different GaAs single crystals grown by the Czochralski method were investigated. The experimental X-ray data were compared with computer simulations basing on the Fresnel theory.

In this paper we present a structural and morphological characterisation of the as-deposited low pressure chemically vapor deposited (LPCVD) silicon films prepared from silane. The results are related to the deposition kinetics in the temperature range from 500 to 615 degrees C and the deposition pressure range from 20 to 100 Pa. From XRD measurements we show for the first time the presence of the polycrystalline state (of preferred < 211 > orientation) in as-deposited films prepared at temperatures as low as 500 degrees C. This result was connected with an increase of the surface roughness of those films with respect to the roughness obtained on the surface of film prepared at 550 degrees C. At 500 degrees C, a minimum surface roughness of 0.5 nm is obtained and this was connected to the amorphous state of the layer revealed for all deposition pressures studied. At temperatures lower than 550 degrees C, the < 211 > texture presents a decrease of the grain size as a function of pressure increase. At temperatures higher than 550 degrees C, due to a competition in grain growth process, the < 220 > and < 111 > crystallites are also evinced in the film structure, while the surface roughness is rapidly increasing to value of 18-20 nm. These last results are explained in terms of three-dimensional nucleation processes at higher deposition temperatures. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) results support this idea by showing the increase of the number of surface asperities as a function of pressure and the strong decrease of that density as a function of deposition temperature.

Silicon surface roughness characterization using electromagnetic wave scattering (from X-ray to infrared range) together with profilometer and AFM measurements are performed. The dependence of relief characterisation accuracy on the wavelength of the used source is analyzed. The comparison of both local (profilometer, AFM) and statistical data (grazing X-ray scattering, optical specular reflectance, multi-angle-of-incidence (MAI)-ellipsometry) is carried out.