Characterization of ion track morphology formed by swift heavy ion irradiation in silicon oxynitride films

Abstract

Amorphous silicon oxynitride (SiO<inf>x</inf>N<inf>y</inf>) possess interesting optical and mechanical properties. Here, we present direct evidence for the formation of ion tracks in 1 μm thick silicon oxynitride of different stoichiometries. The tracks were created by irradiation with 185 MeV Au13+ ions. The samples were studied using spectral reflectometry and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), with the track morphology characterised by means of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The radial density of the ion tracks resembles a core-shell structure with a typical radius of ∼ 1.8 + 2.4 nm in the case of Si<inf>3</inf>N<inf>4</inf> and 2.3 + 3.2 nm for SiO<inf>2</inf>.