Ion implantation in TiO2:: damage production and recovery, lattice site location and electrical conductivity

Ions with different oxidation states were implanted in TiO2 (rutile). The lattice disorder as well as the lattice site location of the implanted ions were determined using Rutherford Backscattering and Channeling (RBS-C) spectrometry. The production of disorder as a function of dose and temperature, and its recovery was studied in detail. Important results are the observation of dynamic recovery at 293 K and above, and one isothermal at 77 K and two thermal recovery stages between 170 and 210 K and between 260 and 293 K. The recovery at 77 K is proportional to ln t, indicating that the activation energy increases with decreasing disorder density. The results concerning the lattice site location of 14 ion species reveal that 13 ions occupy Ti lattice site. With increasing netcharge, the maximum soluble concentration decreases by the formation of impurity-defect complexes probably enforced by charge compensation. Directed displacements from the substitutional lattice site provide some hints on the structures of these complexes. The electrical conductivity of the implanted samples increased by about 12 orders of magnitude irrespective of the oxidation state of the implanted species, From the temperature and dose dependence of the electrical conductivity as well as from its similar behaviour for noble-gas ions and other species it is concluded, that the carrier transport occurs by single energy states excitation at low doses and by variable range hopping between localized states at high doses. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.