Structural characterization of Ti implanted AlN

Sintered AlN ceramics were implanted by 1 × 1017 Ti/cm² at an energy of 70 keV in order to investigate the role of the chemical properties of the implanted species on the phase formed during the implantation process. The implanted ions were found in a depth profile corresponding to the calculated distribution of the vacancies produced during the implantation process instead of the predicted ion profile. Identification of the local environment of Ti and of the resulting phase led us to conclude that Ti is surrounded by N after the collision cascade and forms TiN after post-implantation annealing. The TiN nucleus if formed by substitution of Al by Ti. Therefore, the heat of formation, which is more negative for TiN than for AlN, is found to be a key parameter to predict the final system.