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The structural evolution of light-ion implanted 6H-SiC single crystal: Comparison of the effect of helium and hydrogen

The structural evolution of light-ion implanted 6H-SiC single crystal: Comparison of the effect of helium and hydrogen
The structural evolution of light-ion implanted 6H-SiC single crystal: Comparison of the effect of helium and hydrogen

The microstructure evolution of hydrogen-implanted 6H-SiC at different temperatures and fluences is investigated by using various experimental techniques. In H-implanted samples with relatively low fluence at RT, dense blister cavities are observed after annealing at 1100 °C, while no visible blister cavities appear after annealing at 1100 °C in the sample implanted at RT with high fluence. The absence of blister cavities is due to the loss of elastic energy during the crystalline-to-amorphous transition. With a further increase of implantation temperature to 450 and 900 °C, amorphization did not occur and H-containing microcracks grew laterally below the surface. Thus, blisters appeared on the surface of the samples implanted at 900 °C even without annealing. The results are compared to the microstructural evolution of He-implanted 6H-SiC which was explored in our previous work. The behavior of hydrogen and helium ions in 6H-SiC lattice was rather different. For He implantation, regardless of the fluence and implantation temperature, blisters did not form. The mechanism of migration and coalescence of nanoscale bubbles that are responsible for blistering were studied via density functional theory calculations, which well-supported the presented results. We found that both mechanisms (migration and coalescence) are energetically cheaper in the case of H compared to He.

Blisters, Bubbles, DFT, Radiation damage, Transmission electron microscopy
1359-6454
609-622
Daghbouj, N.
11efccbe-eb37-4f69-a8c4-1fd21889503e
Li, B. S.
ff6006d5-9415-4ddd-b641-005ab8fc18d9
Callisti, M.
86e03724-aacc-46d5-bccc-4c7025556667
Sen, H. S.
bb372413-c42d-4a9b-8337-bc27ee739f58
Lin, J.
30e0851a-6b2c-41bf-ad18-72ce0c80f6ee
Ou, X.
c3cea9fc-2d72-4e36-a9e8-19e20ef2bd70
Karlik, M.
df29ecf1-6f1e-4713-a15a-82b321804596
Polcar, T.
c669b663-3ba9-4e7b-9f97-8ef5655ac6d2
Daghbouj, N.
11efccbe-eb37-4f69-a8c4-1fd21889503e
Li, B. S.
ff6006d5-9415-4ddd-b641-005ab8fc18d9
Callisti, M.
86e03724-aacc-46d5-bccc-4c7025556667
Sen, H. S.
bb372413-c42d-4a9b-8337-bc27ee739f58
Lin, J.
30e0851a-6b2c-41bf-ad18-72ce0c80f6ee
Ou, X.
c3cea9fc-2d72-4e36-a9e8-19e20ef2bd70
Karlik, M.
df29ecf1-6f1e-4713-a15a-82b321804596
Polcar, T.
c669b663-3ba9-4e7b-9f97-8ef5655ac6d2

Daghbouj, N., Li, B. S., Callisti, M., Sen, H. S., Lin, J., Ou, X., Karlik, M. and Polcar, T. (2020) The structural evolution of light-ion implanted 6H-SiC single crystal: Comparison of the effect of helium and hydrogen. Acta Materialia, 188, 609-622. (doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2020.02.046).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The microstructure evolution of hydrogen-implanted 6H-SiC at different temperatures and fluences is investigated by using various experimental techniques. In H-implanted samples with relatively low fluence at RT, dense blister cavities are observed after annealing at 1100 °C, while no visible blister cavities appear after annealing at 1100 °C in the sample implanted at RT with high fluence. The absence of blister cavities is due to the loss of elastic energy during the crystalline-to-amorphous transition. With a further increase of implantation temperature to 450 and 900 °C, amorphization did not occur and H-containing microcracks grew laterally below the surface. Thus, blisters appeared on the surface of the samples implanted at 900 °C even without annealing. The results are compared to the microstructural evolution of He-implanted 6H-SiC which was explored in our previous work. The behavior of hydrogen and helium ions in 6H-SiC lattice was rather different. For He implantation, regardless of the fluence and implantation temperature, blisters did not form. The mechanism of migration and coalescence of nanoscale bubbles that are responsible for blistering were studied via density functional theory calculations, which well-supported the presented results. We found that both mechanisms (migration and coalescence) are energetically cheaper in the case of H compared to He.

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More information

Published date: 15 April 2020
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords: Blisters, Bubbles, DFT, Radiation damage, Transmission electron microscopy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 453997
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453997
ISSN: 1359-6454
PURE UUID: 0ca0d7cb-989f-45ea-9d6e-089c6187a3ef
ORCID for T. Polcar: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0863-6287

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 27 Jan 2022 18:09
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:26

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Contributors

Author: N. Daghbouj
Author: B. S. Li
Author: M. Callisti
Author: H. S. Sen
Author: J. Lin
Author: X. Ou
Author: M. Karlik
Author: T. Polcar ORCID iD

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