Sputtering of SiN films by 540 keV C ions observed using high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy

Nakajima, Kaoru*; Morita, Yosuke*; Kitayama, Takumi*; Suzuki, Motofumi*; Narumi, Kazumasa; Saito, Yuichi; Tsujimoto, Masahiko*; Isoda, Shoji*; Fujii, Yoshikazu*; Kimura, Kenji*

Our previous observation that an impact of sub-MeV C ion makes an ion track in a thin amorphous silicon nitride (a-SiN) film suggests emission of thousands of atoms from the cylindrical region. Sputtering yields of a-SiN films by C ions were evaluated in order to confirm this observation. A-SiN films deposited on Si(001) were irradiated with 540-keV C ions at fluences from 2.510 to 110 ions/cm. The compositional depth profiles of the irradiated samples were measured with high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, and the sputtering yields were estimated at 3900 500 N atoms/ion and 1500 1000 Si atoms/ion. The sputtering yield of N was two orders of magnitude larger than the elastic sputtering yield by the SRIM code or than the measured electronic sputtering yield of a-SiN by 50-MeV Cu ions previously reported. Such a large sputtering yield cannot be explained either by the elastic sputtering or by the electronic sputtering. However, an estimation of the synergistic effect based on the inelastic thermal spike model roughly explains the observed large sputtering yield, indicating that the synergistic effect of the nuclear and electronic stopping powers plays an important role.