Molecular dynamics simulations of void and helium bubble stability in amorphous silicon during heavy-ion bombardment

A study of void and helium sHed bubble stability in amorphous silicon sa-Sid subjected to heavy-ion bombardment was conducted with molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of incident ion energy, incident ion direction, and He pressure were investigated. He bubbles with pressures equal to or greater than 0.1 kbar were found to be stable during isotropic 2 keV xenon sXed irradiation. Bubbles with pressures below this limit collapsed completely. On the other hand, voids and bubbles of all pressures were stable following unidirectional 2 keV Xe bombardment. In this case, the voids and bubbles became elongated and resisted closure, a phenomenon attributed to the inability of liquid Si to wet the flat, low-curvature internal surfaces of the open-volume defect. The void closure rates varied from 55 to 180 Å/dpa as the Xe projectile energy increased from 0.2 keV to 2 keV, respectively. An analytical model based on a viscous flow mechanism is presented to describe the behavior associated with the slowest closure rate. The faster rates are attributed to pressure-induced convective flow into the void. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1791759]