Swift heavy ion beam mixing at V/Si interface

•Swift Heavy Ion Beam Mixing (SHIBM) investigated at Si/V/Si system.•V6Si5 and VSi2 phases have been formed due to the irradiation induced atomic diffusion.•The depth profiling has been investigated by using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy.•Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy has been used to see the interface at macroscopic level.

Vanadium silicides are of increasing interest because of applications in high temperature superconductivity and in microelectronics as contact materials due to their good electrical conductivity. In the present work ion beam induced mixing at Si/V/Si interface has been investigated using 120 MeV Au ions at 1 × 1013 to 1 × 1014 ions/cm2 fluence at room temperature. V/Si interface was characterized by Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction (GIXRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and Cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (XTEM) techniques before and after irradiation. It was found that the atomic mixing width increases with ion fluence. GIXRD and RBS investigations confirm the formation of V6Si5 silicide phase at the interface at the highest ion irradiation dose.

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