Post-annealing effect on the microstructure and photoluminescence properties of the ion beam synthesized FeSi2 precipitates in Si

FeSi2 precipitates with various structural properties embedded within silicon matrix were formed by iron ion implantation using a metal vapor vacuum arc ion source followed by thermal annealing at various conditions. The microstructure and phase properties of the implanted samples were studied by transmission electron microscopy. The orientation relationships and thus the interfacial coherence between the FeSi2 precipitates and the Si matrix were observed to change with the annealing conditions. A good correlation is identified in-between the structural properties and the photoluminescence properties of these samples.