Surface damage on 6H–SiC by highly-charged Xe q+ ions irradiation

Surface damage on 6H–SiC irradiated by highly-charged Xeq+ (q = 18, 26) ions to different fluences in two geometries was studied by means of AFM, Raman scattering spectroscopy and FTIR spectrometry. The FTIR spectra analysis shows that for Xe26+ ions irradiation at normal incidence, a deep reflection dip appears at about 930 cm−1. Moreover, the reflectance on top of reststrahlen band decreases as the ion fluence increases, and the reflectance at tilted incidence is larger than that at normal incidence. The Raman scattering spectra reveal that for Xe26+ ions at normal incidence, surface reconstruction occurs and amorphous stoichiometric SiC and Si–Si and C–C bonds are generated and original Si–C vibrational mode disappears. And the intensity of scattering peaks decreases with increasing dose. The AFM measurement shows that the surface swells after irradiation. With increasing ion fluence, the step height between the irradiated and the unirradiated region increases for Xe18+ ions irradiation; while for Xe26+ ions irradiation, the step height first increases and then decreases with increasing ion fluence. Moreover, the step height at normal incidence is higher than that at tilted incidence by the irradiation with Xe18+ to the same ion fluence. A good agreement between the results from the three methods is found.