STUDY OF SELF-IMPLANTED SILICON AMORPHIZATION WITH X-RAYS AT GRAZING ANGLES OF INCIDENCE

An X-ray beam incident on a surface at a grazing angle α is totally reflected. An evanescent wave propagates in the material, with a penetration depth varying with a from α few tens of ångströms to several μm; so diffraction effects may occur from a thin layer at the surface. For the case of silicon implanted with Si at doses high enough to disturb the upper 1000 Å layer of the crystalline structure, we show that information about the amorphization process may easily be obtained, including for example the amount of the amorphous phase and the depth profile of this phase. Furthermore, we give evidence for an undisturbed crystalline state at the upper 100 Å layer for doses high enough to produce an homogeneous amorphous layer deeper in the sample. © 1990.