Thermal regrowth of silicon(111) surface during ion bombardment

The epitaxial regrowth of Si(111) surface damaged by low energy Ne + bombardment was studied with low energy electron diffraction. The temperature for regrowth was consistently found to be lower when annealing was done during rather than after the ion bombardment. This is in line with the observation that crystalline Si films can be grown from the vapor at relatively low temperatures in a plasma or with ion beam processes.