Temperature and ion flux dependence of damage structures in Zn+ implanted and laser annealed GaAs

High resolution transmission electron microscopy has been used to investigate the lattice damage dependence on the implantation temperature and ion flux in Zn+ implanted gallium arsenide (GaAs). The implantation parameters were chosen in the amorphization–crystallization transition regime in order to investigate the damage typology while the amorphization regime is approached. It is shown that the approach to the amorphization regime is related to the appearance of stacking faults related extended defects lying on (111) planes. Subsequently, the samples have been annealed by low-power pulsed-laser annealing (LPPLA). In the best annealing conditions the resulting structure is characterized by a low density of extended defects in the implanted layer showing that LPPLA induced solid phase epitaxial regrowth is able to anneal out even ‘crystalline’ defects.