Irradiation induced effects on Ni3N/Si bilayer system

The irradiation effect in Ni3N/Si bilayers induced by 100 MeV Au ions at fluence 1.5 × 1014 ions/cm2 was investigated at room temperature. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction determined the formation of Ni2Si and Si3N4 phases at the interface. The roughness of the thin film was measured by atomic force microscopy. X-ray reflectivity was used to measure the thickness of thin films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy has provided the elemental binding energy of Ni3N thin films. It was observed that after irradiation (Ni 2p3/2) peak shifted towards a lower binding energy. Optical properties of nickel nitride films, which were deposited onto Si (100) by ion beam sputtering at vacuum 1.2 × 10−4 torr, were examined using Au ions. In-situ I–V measurements on Ni3N/Si samples were also undertaken at room temperature which showed that there is an increase in current after irradiation.