Replenish and Relax: Explaining Logarithmic Annealing in Ion-Implanted c-Si

Laurent Karim Béland, Yonathan Anahory, Dries Smeets, Matthieu Guihard, Peter Brommer, Jean-François Joly, Jean-Christophe Pothier, Laurent J. Lewis, Normand Mousseau, and François Schiettekatte
Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 105502 – Published 4 September 2013

Abstract

We study ion-damaged crystalline silicon by combining nanocalorimetric experiments with an off-lattice kinetic Monte Carlo simulation to identify the atomistic mechanisms responsible for the structural relaxation over long time scales. We relate the logarithmic relaxation, observed in a number of disordered systems, with heat-release measurements. The microscopic mechanism associated with this logarithmic relaxation can be described as a two-step replenish and relax process. As the system relaxes, it reaches deeper energy states with logarithmically growing barriers that need to be unlocked to replenish the heat-releasing events leading to lower-energy configurations.

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  • Received 10 April 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.105502

© 2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Laurent Karim Béland*, Yonathan Anahory, Dries Smeets, Matthieu Guihard, Peter Brommer, Jean-François Joly§, Jean-Christophe Pothier, Laurent J. Lewis, Normand Mousseau**, and François Schiettekatte††

  • Regroupement Québécois sur les Matériaux de Pointe (RQMP), Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Case Postale 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada

  • *laurent.karim.beland@umontreal.ca
  • y.anahory@gmail.com
  • Current address: Department of Physics and Centre for Scientific Computing, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. p.brommer@warwick.ac.uk
  • §jeanf.joly@gmail.com
  • jc.pothier@phytronix.com
  • laurent.lewis@umontreal.ca
  • **normand.mousseau@umontreal.ca
  • ††francois.schiettekatte@umontreal.ca

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Issue

Vol. 111, Iss. 10 — 6 September 2013

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