Nitrogen Implanted Germanium: Damage, Lattice Location, and Electrical Properties

Abstract

The radiation damage, implanted atom location, and electrical properties of nitrogen implanted germanium have been studied following anneals in the temperature range of 300–700 °C. Helium ion backscattering was used to measure the damage while two nuclear reactions, the 14N(d, α)12C and the 15N(p, α)12C, were used together with channeling techniques for the atom site location study. The results indicate that ~85% of the implanted nitrogen was located on nonsubstitutional sites, and also that the nitrogen did not outdiffuse from the germanium for anneals as high as 700 °C. The I–V characteristics of mesa structures formed in the implanted germanium indicate that, nitrogen had not become a donor in germanium.