Diffusion effects in ion implanted germanium

During isochronal anneal sequences the number of Hg, Tl and Bi atoms implanted into Ge has been found to decrease. This decrease occurs for all three species and has been observed for samples implanted at room temperature as well as for hot implants (300—350°C). The decrease starts at anneal temperatures of 350—550°C. Similar results have been obtained for In and Sb implanted Ge. For samples implanted with Hg to doses leading to amorphous layers, the decrease in the number of implanted atoms seems to be related to the reordering of the amorphous layer. The experiments show that no diffusion of the implanted atoms into the bulk material occurs and the decrease observed is attributed to be a diffusion of the atoms to the surface followed by outdiffusion, thermal etching or both.