Blistering/exfoliation kinetics of GaAs by hydrogen and helium implantations

The blistering and exfoliation kinetics of GaAs (100) wafer implanted by hydrogen and helium were studied. The influence of ion fluence, implantation and subsequent annealing temperatures on the blistering and/or exfoliation was studied by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), optical microscopy, high resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM). The optimum H+ fluence for the GaAs blistering after annealing in the 160–350 °C temperature range was of 1–2 × 1017 H+/cm2 for implantation temperatures of 120–160 °C. An avalanche type exfoliation was found in the GaAs wafer implanted at room temperature with 100 keV helium ions at fluences of 2–5 × 1016 He+/cm2 after annealing in the 200–300 °C. In case of helium implantation, a notable dependency of the exfoliated depth on the fluence was found: XTEM analysis showing dislocation-bubble lines that serve as a fracture path for exfoliation.