Atomic-level study of ion-induced nanoscale disordered domains in silicon carbide

Atomic-level simulations have been employed to study the nanoscale disordering induced in 3C-SiC by energetic Si and Au ions (up to 50 keV). Topologically disordered nanoscale domains are generated with low frequency in the cascades produced by Au ions, whereas Si ions create only a few small defect clusters, with most defects being single interstitials and monovacancies. The structural image simulations of the nanoscale domains provide for atomic-level insights into disordered states. The simulations suggest that it is possible to design and fabricate nanoscale optoelectronic devices based on SiC using ion-beam-induced order-disorder transformation. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.