Focused ion beam (FIB)-induced ion mixing was studied in a C/Si/C/Si/C/Si substrate
multilayer structure sample by means of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling,
and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The multilayer sample was irradiated with
Ga+ ions using focused ion beam (FIB) at room temperature. The ion energy and fluence
of the ion irradiation varied in the range of 10-30 keV and 10-120x 10(15) ions/cm(2),
respectively. The ion irradiation induced a slightly asymmetric intermixing of the
top C and Si layers, which could be modeled by the TRIDYN code. During ion mixing,
part of the intermixed C and Si atoms reacted, forming amorphous SiC. The amount of
SiC depends on the square root of the Ga+ fluence. Thus, amorphous SiC thin film (with
Ga contamination) with thickness in the nanometer range can be produced by means of
FIB. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.
