Ion irradiation effects and ion beam studies of semiconductor multilayers

The strain produced or defects generated in the multilayers depend on the extent of lattice mismatch and the layer thickness. Ion irradiation can also induce strain in an otherwise lattice-matched samples. The strain present in strained samples can be tuned using the ion beam mixing methods. The strains have direct bearing on the bandgap engineering in the semiconductor devices. The use of ion beam techniques like RBS/Channeling give reliable information on crystalline quality and quantity of strains and /or defects generated due to any relaxation of strains due to increased layer thickness or increased lattice mismatch. The importance and usefulness of ion beam based techniques to measure and tune strain in such samples is discussed and highlighted in this paper along with our resent results in this direction.