Implantation temperature and thermal annealing behavior in H2+-implanted 6H-SiC

The effects of hydrogen implantation temperature and annealing temperature in 6H-SiC are studied by the combination of Rutherford backscattering in channeling geometry (RBS/C), high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 6H-SiC wafers were implanted with 100 keV H2+ ions to a fluence of 2.5 × 1016 H2+ cm−2 at room temperature (RT), 573 K and 773 K. Post-implantation, the samples were annealing under argon gas flow at different temperatures from 973 K to 1373 K for isochronal annealing (15 min). The relative Si disorder at the damage peak for the sample implanted at RT decreases gradually with increasing annealing temperature. However, the reverse annealing effect is found for the samples implanted at 573 K and 773 K. As-implantation, the intensity of in-plane compressive stress is the maximum as the sample was implanted at RT, and is the minimum as the sample was implanted at 573 K. The intensity of in-plane compressive stress for the sample implanted at RT decreases gradually with increasing annealing temperature, while the intensities of in-plane compressive stress for the sample implanted at 573 K and 773 K show oscillatory changes with increasing annealing temperature. After annealing at 1373 K, blisters and craters occur on the sample surface and their average sizes increase with increasing implantation temperature.