Optical characterization of ion implanted SiC

We present the preliminary results of our investigation of producing nanoclusters of gold and tin in 6H-SiC. In this work we study the changes in the linear optical properties as a function of ion fluence and post-implantation heat treatment. The optical absorption is complemented by micro-Raman spectroscopy to investigate lattice damage and recovery. We implanted 1.0 MeV Au and 120 and 160 keV Sn into the Si face of SiC at 30 or 500°C 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 greatly reduced optical absorption due to ion implantation induced defects. Using Mie theory, we determined the index of refraction in the implanted volume and estimated the size of the Au nanoclusters as 5 nm in diameter. Rutherford backscattering analysis of the oxide layer grown during annealing showed an increase of 20 percent in on the implanted side. It was found that the Au clusters occurred only in the oxide layer.