Deuteron microprobe analysis of carbon in the transition region between SiC and Si nanostructures grown on Si

Carbon ion implantation and high vacuum electron beam annealing have been applied to produce 200–300 nm large SiC nanocrystals on silicon. Simultaneously, Si nanostructures, called silicon nanowhiskers, grow in the unimplanted region of the (1 0 0) Si substrate during the annealing treatment. The lateral transition region between the SiC nanocrystals and Si nanostructures has been investigated using optical microscopy, deuteron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Carbon distributions were measured via the 13C(d, p0)14C nuclear reaction with a focused scanning deuteron beam with an energy of 1.05 MeV. It has been found that the carbon distribution is directly linked to the growth of the SiC nanostructures. At the boundary between the implanted and un-implanted region, the amount of carbon decreases over 50 μm which causes an abrupt depletion of SiC nanocrystals at this transition region. Specific results outline the important role of nuclear microscopy in nanotechnology process development.