Theoretical Study of Intermixing in Au/Si System under Swift Heavy Ion Irradiation

Abstract

The behavior of the metallic multilayer Au100Å/Si100Å/Si under swift heavy ion irradiation has been studied within the inelastic thermal spike model. Gold has been chosen due to its insensitivity to irradiation. The heat transport in the electronic and lattice subsystem has been simulated using a three-dimensional numerical code that includes the energy transfer between the layers in a direction perpendicular to layer surfaces. The simulations have been done for four kinds of ions Pb, Xe, Kr, and Ar, at a specific energy of 3Mev/amu in order to study the influence of the electronic stopping power on the intermixing process. The results show that for Pb, Xe, and Kr, intermixing at the interface of Au/Si has been obtained. However, no mixing has been observed with Ar. Furthermore, the value of the interdiffusion coefficient for Au has been estimated to be approximately 11x10^-4 cm² s^-1, which is characteristic of the liquid phase and, thus, supports the thermal spike model of mixing. For comparison, similar thermal spike simulations have been applied to Ti100Å/Si100Å/Si under the same irradiation conditions. We have found that Ti, which is a sensitive material, exhibits considerable intermixing with Si during Pb, Xe, and Kr irradiation. Whereas, a weak intermixing has been found after Ar irradiation; this is completely different from what has been observed in the Au/Si system.