+
+Further studies revealed the possibility to form buried layers of SiC by IBS at moderate substrate and anneal temperatures \cite{lindner95,lindner96}.
+Different doses of C ions with an energy of \unit[180]{keV} were implanted at \unit[330-440]{$^{\circ}$C} and annealed at \unit[1200]{$^{\circ}$C} or \unit[1250]{$^{\circ}$C} for \unit[5-10]{h}.
+For a critical dose, which was found to depend on the Si substrate orientation, the formation of a stoichiometric buried layer of SiC exhibiting a well-defined interface to the Si host matrix was observed.
+In case of overstoichiometric C concentrations the excess C is not redistributed.
+These investigations demonstrate the presence of an upper dose limit, which corresponds to a \unit[53]{at.\%} C concentration at the implantation peak, for the thermally induced redistribution of the C atoms from a Gaussian to a box-shaped depth profile upon annealing.
+This is explained by the formation of strong graphitic C-C bonds for higher C concentrations \cite{calcagno96}.
+Increased temperatures exceeding the Si melting point are expected to be necessary for the dissociation of these C clusters.
+Furthermore, higher implantation energies were found to result in layers of variable composition exhibiting randomly distributed SiC precipitates.
+In another study \cite{serre95} high dose C implantations were performed at room temperature and \unit[500]{$^{\circ}$C} respectively.
+Implantations at room temperature lead to the formation of a buried amorphous carbide layer in addition to a thin C-rich film at the surface, which is attributed to the migration of C atoms towards the surface.
+In contrast, implantations at elevated temperatures result in the exclusive formation of a buried layer consisting of 3C-SiC precipitates epitaxially aligned to the Si host, which obviously is more favorable than the C migration towards the surface.
+Annealing at temperatures up to \unit[1150]{$^{\circ}$C} does not alter the C profile.
+Instead defect annihilation is observed and the C-rich surface layer of the room temperature implant turns into a layer consisting of SiC precipitates, which, however, are not aligned with the Si matrix indicating a mechanism different to the one of the direct formation for the high-temperature implantation.
+
+Based on these findings, a recipe was developed to form buried layers of single-crystalline SiC featuring an improved interface and crystallinity \cite{lindner99,lindner01,lindner02}.
+Therefore, the dose must not exceed the stoichiometry dose, i.e. the dose corresponding to \unit[50]{at.\%} C concentration at the implantation peak.
+Otherwise clusters of C are formed, which cannot be dissolved during post-implantation annealing at moderate temperatures below the Si melting point \cite{lindner96,calcagno96}.
+Annealing should be performed for \unit[5-10]{h} at \unit[1250]{$^{\circ}$C} to enable the redistribution from the as-implanted Gaussian into a box-like C depth profile \cite{lindner95}.
+The implantation temperature constitutes the most critical parameter, which is responsible for the structure after implantation and, thus, the starting point for subsequent annealing steps.
+Implantations at \unit[400]{$^{\circ}$C} resulted in buried layers of SiC subdivided into a polycrystalline upper and an epitaxial lower part.
+This corresponds to the region of randomly oriented SiC crystallites and epitaxially aligned precipitates surrounded by thin amorphous layers without crystalline SiC inclusions in the as-implanted state.
+However, an abrupt interface to the Si host is observed after annealing.
+As expected, single-crystalline layers were achieved for an increased temperature of \unit[600]{$^{\circ}$C}.
+However, these layers show an extremely poor interface to the Si top layer governed by a high density of SiC precipitates, which are not affected in the C redistribution during annealing and, thus, responsible for the rough interface.
+Hence, to obtain sharp interfaces and single-crystalline SiC layers temperatures between \unit[400]{$^{\circ}$C} and \unit[600]{$^{\circ}$C} have to be used.
+Indeed, reasonable results were obtained at \unit[500]{$^{\circ}$C} \cite{lindner98} and even better interfaces were observed for \unit[450]{$^{\circ}$C} \cite{lindner99_2}.
+To further improve the interface quality and crystallinity a two-temperature implantation technique was developed \cite{lindner99}.
+To form a narrow, box-like density profile of oriented SiC nanocrystals \unit[93]{\%} of the total dose of \unit[$8.5\cdot 10^{17}$]{cm$^{-2}$} is implanted at \unit[500]{$^{\circ}$C}.
+The remaining dose is implanted at \unit[250]{$^{\circ}$C}, which leads to the formation of amorphous zones above and below the SiC precipitate layer and the desctruction of SiC nanocrystals within these zones.
+After annealing for \unit[10]{h} at \unit[1250]{$^{\circ}$C} a homogeneous, stoichiometric SiC layer with sharp interfaces is formed.
+
+To summarize, by understanding some basic processes, \ac{IBS} nowadays has become a promising method to form thin SiC layers of high quality exclusively of the 3C polytype embedded in and epitaxially aligned to the Si host featuring a sharp interface.
+Due to the high areal homogeneity achieved in \ac{IBS}, the size of the layers is only limited by the width of the beam-scanning equipment used in the implantation system as opposed to deposition techniques, which have to deal with severe wafer bending.
+This enables the synthesis of large area SiC films.