Comparison of the damage in sapphire due to implantation of boron, nitrogen, and iron

The damage microstructure and optical properties of sapphire implanted with boron, nitrogen and iron were examined by RBS-C, TEM, and optical absorption. Implantations were conducted at RT and 1000 °C at 150 keV and fluences of 3 × 1016–1 × 1017 ions/cm2. Optical absorption measurements indicate that the boron-implanted samples contained the highest number of F-type centers and the nitrogen-implanted samples the fewest. The microstructure of the boron-implanted samples shows only ‘black-spot’ defect clusters, as did the iron-implanted samples at the lower fluences. At higher fluences, the iron implanted samples revealed the presence of nanometer-sized precipitates of single crystal bcc iron that contributed to additional optical scattering. Bubbles formed in samples implanted with low fluences of nitrogen. A second damage region is apparent in the RBS-C patterns for higher fluences of nitrogen.