Computer Analysis of AFM Images of a Silicon Surface Implanted with Zinc Ions and Oxidized at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

A computer study of the morphological characteristics of the AFM image of a self-organized system of surface hillocks in CZ n-Si (100) samples doped with zinc under conditions of hot implantation and oxidized at elevated temperatures is performed. Topological studies of the sample surface are carried out under ambient conditions using a scanning tunneling microscope in the atomic-force mode. Computer analysis of the AFM images of the surface is carried out using the STIMAN 3D software. The analysis made it possible to quantify the morphology of the hillock system on the substrate surface with respect to a number of parameters: the equivalent diameter, area, total area, and the shape factor both after Zn implantation and after annealing. Quantitative evaluation of the morphology of the system of surface hillocks will allow the nondestructive monitoring of the formation and evolution of nanoparticles in the subsurface layer of implanted samples during their heat treatment.