Swift-heavy-ion-induced damage formation in III-V binary and ternary semiconductors

Damage formation in InP, GaP, InAs, GaAs, and the related ternary alloys Ga0.50 In0.50 P and Ga0.47 In0.53 As irradiated at room temperature with 185 MeV Au ions was studied using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy in channeling configuration, transmission electron microscopy, and small-angle x-ray scattering. Despite nearly identical ion-energy loss in these materials, their behavior under swift-heavy-ion irradiation is strikingly different: InP and Ga0.50 In0.50 P are readily amorphized, GaP and GaAs remain almost undamaged and InAs and Ga0.47 In0.53 As exhibit intermediate behavior. A material-dependent combination of irradiation-induced damage formation and annealing is proposed to describe the different responses of the III-V materials to electronic energy loss.