Gettering of transition metals by cavities in silicon formed by helium ion implantation

We have recently completed studies which quantitatively characterize the ability of nanometer-size cavities formed by He ion implantation to getter detrimental metal impurities in Si. Cavity microstructures formed in Si by ion implantation of He and subsequent annealing have been found to capture metal impurities by chemisorption on internal walls at low concentrations. Experiments utilizing ion-beam analysis, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectrometry were performed to quantitatively characterize the gettering effects and to determine the free energies associated with the chemisorbed metal atoms as a function of temperature. Mathematical models utilizing these results have been developed to predict the gettering behavior of cavities as compared to conventional gettering by precipitation.