TEM study of damage recovery in SiC by swift Xe ion irradiation

The microstructure of 4H–SiC samples subsequently irradiated with low energy He (10 keV), Ti (220 keV) and high energy (167 MeV) Xe ions has been studied using cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. It was found that xenon ions with fluences above 1013 cm−2 restore crystallinity in a heavily damaged partially amorphous zone. No, or negligible damage recovery is observed in fully amorphized layers of silicon carbide.