Differences in ion beam mixing at Fe:c-Si and Fe:a-Si interfaces as revealed by Mossbauer spectroscopy

Abstract

Growth of collision cascade and its thermalization is known to be an important process responsible for ion beam induced atomic mixing at a bilayer interface. Since this process depends on the delayed sequences of scattering events, transient diffusive transport of atoms following collisional reaction and thermal diffusivity of the host materials, it is expected to contribute differently to the mixing reactions in crystalline and amorphous media. In this paper we attempt to examine such differences via use of the microcharacterization technique of conversion electron mobssbauer spectroscopy (CEMS), applied to the study of ion mixing in single interface Fe: c-Si and Fe: a-Si configurations. On the basis of the variations in the values of hyperfine interaction parameters as a function of ion dose it is concluded that the mixing reactions differ in the two cases.