Study of the dependence of the degree of disordering of the surface layers of Si(111) and Ge(111) single crystals upon bombardment with low-energy ions

Abstract

In the presented article, samples were studied using Auger electron spectroscopy, recording the angular dependences of the coefficient of elastically reflected electrons η, and spectroscopy of elastically reflected electrons. A change in the composition and degree of disorder of the surface layers of Si (111) was detected when bombarded with Ar+ and K+ ions with a change in energy E0 ∼ from 1 to 10 keV and ion dose from ∼ 1013 to 1017 cm−2 . It was found that although the Ar and K atoms have the same masses, at the same ion energies, the degree of disordering of the near-surface Si(111) layer differs significantly. The observed effect is explained by the significant difference in their ionic radii. It is shown that at E0 ≥ 3 keV, the complete amorphization of near-surface layers occurs at relatively lower doses than surface amorphization.