INFLUENCE OF ANNEALING CONDITIONS ON THE SURFACE TOPOGRAPHY OF THIN FILMS OF MANGANESE SILICIDES

Abstract

This work examines the influence of thermal annealing conditions on the surface topography of thin manganese silicide films fabricated by ion implantation. Implantation was carried out at an energy of 100 keV with doses of 1×10¹⁵, 5×10¹⁵, and 1×10¹⁶ cm⁻², resulting in an average ion penetration depth of 90–110 nm and a distribution width of approximately 40 nm. Thermal annealing was performed in vacuum at temperatures ranging from 600 °C to 800 °C for 30 minutes.Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis revealed that increasing the annealing temperature leads to a rise in RMS surface roughness from 0.8 nm to 4–5 nm, and an increase in the average grain size from 20–30 nm to 80–120 nm. Additional parameters, including surface area, protrusion volume, height distribution, and grain statistics, were also evaluated. The results demonstrate that the surface topography of thin manganese silicide films can be effectively controlled through thermal annealing, a factor of critical importance for the development of micro- and nanoelectronic devices.