Ion beam induced change in the linear optical properties of SiC

We present the results of our investigation of producing nanoclusters of gold and tin in 6H-SiC and changes in the linear optical properties induced by Au, Sn and Si implantation. This is accomplished by implanting 1.0 MeV Au, 160 keV Sn and 5.0 MeV Si into the Si face of SiC at room or elevated temperature followed by annealing at various temperatures. Using optical absorption spectrophotometry, we determined the location of the absorption band for each metal nanocluster in SiC. Elevated temperature implantation reduces optical absorption due to ion implantation induced defects. Using the Mie theory, we determined the index of refraction in the implanted volume and estimated the size of the Au nanoclusters.