Range distributions of 50–400 keV Hg+in amorphous silicon and Si-Ar binary targets

Abstract Range distributions of 50–400 keV Hg + in amorphous Si and Si-Ar binary targets have been investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The Si(100) wafers were amorphized by means of 150 keV Ar + irradiation to a dose of 2 × 10 15 ions/cm 2 . To produce Si-Ar binary targets, the Si(100) wafers were implanted with 150 keV Ar + to a dose of 3 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 . 50–400 keV Hg + were introduced into amorphous Si and Si-Ar binary targets in increments of 50 keV. Parallel scanning of the Hg + beams was used. The measured ranges and range stragglings have been compared to the Biersack theory. The results show that good agreements are found between the experimental and theoretical projected ranges for both Si and Si-Ar, but the predicted range straggling for both Si and Si-Ar are systematically lower than the experimental results in the case of a first order treatment. After correcting for second order energy loss terms, a better agreement for the range straggling is obtained.