Ion implantation is a technique for modifying the surface of materials by injecting precise quantities of atoms at the desired depth. It is widely used in doping semiconductors when manufacturing very large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI). Since it is a highly out-of-balance phenomenon (the incident atoms typically have energies millions of times higher than the atoms in the material), this implantation often generates new structures at the atomic level that can be exploited to improve the performance of high-tech materials, or may create problems to be overcome.

For instance, during the doping process, implantation creates defects in semiconductors by displacing crystal atoms, and this is damaging to integrated circuits. If there are not too many defects, the damage can be corrected by annealing and the dopant activated. If the density of the defects exceeds a certain threshold, however, permanent damage will appear in the materials and may make the devices unusable.

Inversely, ion implantation generates defects that can be used to modify materials. Implantation makes it possible to create defects near the surface that can later diffuse throughout the material and modify the composition of the lower layers by interdiffusion. In this way it is possible to change the emission wavelengths of quantum dots or wells and the properties of the magnetic layers.

Ion beams can also be used for highly sensitive quantitative measurement of the deep distribution of atoms in a material. In our laboratories we use various ion beam analysis techniques, in particular elastic recoil detection (ERD), a technique developed in our laboratories in the 1970s, and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), RBS channelling and nuclear resonant reaction analysis (NRRA).

François Schiettekatte fait partie du groupe de matière condensée du département de physique de l'Université de Montréal. Il est entre autres spécialiste en analyse et modification des matériaux par faisceaux d'ions et en mesure de l’évolution thermique des nanostructures par nanocalorimétrie. Il est co-directeur du Groupe de recherche en physique et technologie des couches minces (31 professeurs, 200 personnes au total). Expert régulièrement invité dans des conférences internationales, il a fait partie de différents comités internationaux notamment auprès de l’AIEA.

Articles publiés ou acceptés

1. L.K. Béland, Y. Anahory, D. Smeets, M. Guihard, P. Brommer, J.-F. Joly, J.-C. Pothier, L.J. Lewis, N. Mousseau, F. Schiettekatte, Replenish and Relax: Explaining Logarithmic Annealing in Ion-Implanted c-Si, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 (2013) 105502
2. P. Turcotte-Tremblay, M. Guihard, S. Gaudet, M. Chicoine, C. Lavoie, P. Desjardins, F. Schiettekatte, Thin film Ni-Si solid-state reactions: Phase formation sequence on amorphized Si, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 31 (2013) 051213
3. F. Schiettekatte, Tails, Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B, revised version submitted (2013/11)
4. A. Fekecs, M. Chicoine, B. Ilahi, F. Schiettekatte, P.G. Charette, R. Ares, Towards semi-insulating InGaAsP/InP layers by post-growth processing using Fe ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys 46 (2013) 165106
5. M. Molina-Ruiz, A. F. Lopeandía, M. González-Silveira, Y. Anahory, M. Guihard, G. Garcia, M. T. Clavaguera-Mora, F. Schiettekatte, J. Rodríguez-Viejo, Formation of Pd2Si on single-crystalline Si (100) at ultrafast heating rates: An in-situ analysis by nanocalorimetry, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102(2013) 143111
6. A. Fekecs, M. Bernier, D. Morris, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, P. Charette, and R. Arès, Fabrication of high resistivity cold-implanted InGaAsP photoconductors for efficient pulsed terahertz devices, Optical Materials Express 1 (2011) 1165
7. M. Mayer, W. Eckstein, H. Langhuth, F. Schiettekatte, U. von Toussaint, Computer Simulation of Ion Beam Analysis: Possibilities and Limitations. Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 269 (2011) 3006
8. J.-C. Pothier, F. Schiettekatte, L.J. Lewis, Flowing damage in ion-implanted amorphous silicon, Phys. Rev. B 83 (2011) 235206
9. L. Hu, L. de la Rama, M. Efremov, Y. Anahory, F. Schiettekatte, L. H. Allen, Leslie, Synthesis and Characterization of Single-Layer Silver-Decanethiolate Lamellar Crystals, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 133 (2011) 4367
10. Y. Anahory, M. Guihard, D. Smeets, R. Karmouch, F. Schiettekatte, Ph. Vasseur, P. Desjardins, Liang Hu, L.H. Allen, E. Leon-Gutierrez, J. Rodriguez-Viejo, Fabrication, characterization and modeling of single-crystal thin film calorimeter sensors, Thermochim. Acta 510 (2010) 126.
11. H. Kallel N. Mousseau, F. Schiettekatte, Evolution of the Potential-Energy Surface of Amorphous Silicon Phys. Rev. Lett. 105 (2010) 045503.
12. D. Barba, D. Koshel, F. Martin, G.G. Ross, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, M. Yedji, J. Demarche, G. Terwagne, Silicon nanocrystal synthesis by implantation of natural Si isotopes, J. Luminescence 130 (2010) 669.
13. R. Kumaran, S.E. Webster, S. Penson, W. Li, T. Tiedje, P. Wei, F. Schiettekatte, Epitaxial neodymium-doped sapphire films, a new active medium for waveguide lasers, Optics Lett. 34 (2009) 3358.
14. O. Moutanabbir, YJ. Chabal, M. Chicoine, S. Christiansen, R. Krause-Rehberg, F. Schiettekatte, R. Scholz, O. Seitz, S. Senz, F. Süßkraut, U. Gösele, Mechanisms of ion-induced GaN thin layer splitting, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B267 (2009) 1264.
15. M. Guihard, P. Turcotte-Tremblay, S. Gaudet, C. Coia, S. Roorda, P. Desjardins, C. Lavoie, F. Schiettekatte, Controlling nickel silicide phase formation by Si implantation damage, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B267 (2009) 1285.
16. J.-F. Desjardins, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, D. Barba, F. Martin, G.G. Ross, Impact of Ni co-implantation on Si nanocrystals formation and luminescence, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B267 (2009) 1317.
17. I.B. Radovic, M. Jaksic, F. Schiettekatte, Technique for sensitive carbon depth profiling in thin samples using C-C elastic scattering, 24 (2009) 194.
18. F. Schiettekatte, Fast Monte Carlo for Ion Beam Analysis Simulations, Nucl. Instr. Meth. B266 (2008) 1880.
19. C. Dion, P. Desjardins, F. Schiettekatte, M. Chicoine, M. D. Robertson, N. Shtinkov, P. J. Poole, X. Wu, S. Raymond, Vacancy-mediated intermixing in InAs/InP(001) quantum dots subjected to ion implantation, J. Appl. Phys. 104, (2008) 043527.
20. O. Moutanabbir, R. Scholz, S. Senz, U. Gösele, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, F. Süßkraut, R. Krause-Rehberg, Microstructural evolution in H ion induced splitting of freestanding GaN, Appl. Phys. Lett. 93 (2008) 031916
21. P.J. Simpson, A.P. Knights, M. Chicoine, K. Dudeck, O. Moutanabbir, S.Ruffell, F. Schiettekatte, B. Terreault, Thermal evolution of defects produced by implantation of H, D and He in Silicon, App. Surf. Sci. 255 (2008) 63.
22. N. Desrosiers, A. Giguère, B. Terreault, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, Implantation effects of low energy H and D ions in germanium at -120 °C and room temperature. Nucl. Instr. Meth. B266 (2008) 1880
23. C. Dion, P. Desjardins, N. Shtinkov, F. Schiettekatte, P. J. Poole, and S. Raymond, Effects of grown-in defects on interdiffusion dynamics in InAs/InP(001) quantum dots subjected to rapid thermal annealing, J. Appl. Phys. 103 (2008) 083526
24. C. Dion, P. Desjardins, N. Shtinkov, M. D. Robertson, F. Schiettekatte, P. J. Poole, S. Raymond, Intermixing during growth of InAs self-assembled quantum dots in InP: A photoluminescence and tight-binding investigation, Phys. Rev. B77 (2008)075338
25. L. Stafford, W.T. Lim, S.J. Pearton, Ju-Il Song, J.-S. Park, Y.-W. Heo, J.-H. Lee, J.-J. Kim, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, Deep etch-induced damage during ion-assisted chemical etching of sputtered indium-zinc-oxide films in Ar/CH4/H2 plasmas, Thin Solid Films 516 (2008) 2869
26. L. Stafford, W.T. Lim, S.J. Pearton, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, J.-I. Song, J.-S. Park, Y.W. Heo, J.-H. Lee, J.-J. Kim, I.I. Kravchenko, Influence of the film properties on the plasma etching dynamics of rf-sputtered indium-zinc-oxide layers, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A25 (2007) 659
27. R. Karmouch, Y. Anahory, J.-F. Mercure, D. Bouilly, M. Chicoine, G. Bentoumi, R. Leonelli, Y.Q. Wang, F. Schiettekatte, Damage evolution in low-energy-ion implanted silicon, Phys. Rev. B75 (2007) 075304
28. O. Moutanabbir, B. Terreault, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, P. J. Simpson, Influence of isotopic substitution and He coimplantation on defect complexes and voids induced by H ions in silicon, Phys. Rev. B75 (2007) 075201
29. C. Dion, P. Desjardins, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, P.J. Poole, S. Raymond, Drastic ion-implantation-induced intermixing during annealing of self-assembled InAs/InP(001) quantum dots, Nanotechnology 18 (2007) 015404
30. P. Wei, S.C. Gujrathi, M. Guihard, F. Schiettekatte, Cross-section for ¹⁴N(α, p0)¹⁷O reaction in the energy range 3.2–4.0 MeV, Nucl. Instrum. Meth B249 (2006) 85.

Comptes-rendus de conférences

(depuis 2000)

1. F. Schiettekatte, Simulation of Multiple Scattering Effects on Coincidence, AIP Conf. Proc. 1099 (2009) 314.
2. C. Dion, P. Desjardins, F. Schiettekatte, M. Chicoine, P. J. Poole, S. Raymond, Tuning the Electronic Properties of Self-Assembled InAs/InP(001) Quantum Dots, Meet. Abstr. Electrochem. Soc. 602 (2006) 1269.
3. O. Moutanabbir, B. Terreault, N. Desrosiers, A. Giguère, G. G. Ross, M. Chicoine, F. Schiettekatte, Hydrogen Cleaving of Silicon at the Sub-100-nm Scale AIP Conf. Proc. 772 (2005) 1491
4. M. Chicoine, A. Francois, C. Tavares, S. Chevobbe, F. Schiettekatte, V. Aimez, J. Beauvais, J. Beerens, Effects of damage accumulation on quantum well intermixing by low-energy ion implantation in photonic devices, SPIE 5260 (2004) 423
5. R. Taillefer, P.Desjardins, F. Schiettekatte, A Finite Element Model of Ultra-Sensitive Thin Film Calorimeters for the Study of Size-Dependent Thermodynamical Properties of Materials at the Nanoscale, Proceedings of the first Annual Northeast Workshop on Circuits and Systems (IEEE-NEWCAS2003), Montreal, Canada, June 2003, pp. 129-132.
6. F. Schiettekatte, V. Aimez, M. Chicoine, S. Chevobbe, J.F. Chabot, J.F. Rajotte. Low energy ion implantation induced intermixing in photonic devices: defects profiling and evolution, Proceedings of the 17th Conference on the Application of the Accelerators in Research and Industry. AIP Conf. Proc. 680 (2003) 609
7. M. Zhang, M. Yu. Efremov, F. Schiettekatte, E. A. Olson, and L. H. Allen. "Magic" Nanostructures During The Early Stage of Thin Film Growth 2001 Spring Meeting Proceedings 672 (2001) O5.3, Material Research Society
8. S. Roorda, F. Schiettekatte, M. Cai, T. Veres, A. Tchebotareva. MeV ion implantation for modification of electronic, optical, and magnetic materials SPIE 3413 (1998) 165
9. F. Schiettekatte, G.G. Ross. ERD spectrum to depth profile conversion program for Windows. Proceeding of the 14th International Conference on the Applicationof Accelerators in Research and Industry. AIP Conf. Proc. 392 (1997) 711
10. D. Kéroack, F. Schiettekatte, B. Terreault, G.G. Ross. Laser Desorption and Depth Profiling Study of H and D in Implanted Be. Proceedings of International Conference on Fusion Reactor Materials. (1993) Stresa (Italy).