1.2 MeV/amu Xe ion induced damage recovery in SiC

The microstructural changes of 4H-SiC samples dual irradiated with either low energy He (10 keV) or 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 significant damage recovery was observed in fully amorphized layers of silicon carbide apart from a 5% reduction in the amorphous layer thickness.