Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
Epitaxial single-crystal GaN films on sapphire were implanted 60° off the<0001> surface normal with 1 MeV Au2+ or 3 MeV Au3+ over a fluence range from 0.88 to 86.2 ions/nm2 at 180 and 300 K. The implantation damage was studiedin-situ using 2 MeV He+ Rutherford backscattering spectrometry inchanneling geometry (RBS/C). The disordering rate in the near- surfaceregion is faster than at the damage peak. In all cases, results show anintermediate stage of Ga disorder saturation at the damage peak. During thethermal annealing at 870 K for 20 min, some Au implants in GaN diffuse intothe amorphized surface region, while the remaining Au atoms distributearound the mean ion-projected-range. These results suggest a high mobilityof both Ga defects and Au implants in GaN. Deeper damage implantation by 3MeV Au3+ indicates that GaN cannot be completely amorphized up tothe highest ion fluence (86.2 ions/nm2) applied at 300 K.