Lattice location of implanted Ag in Si

The lattice location of implanted silver in Si was studied by means of the emission channeling technique. Following 60 keV room temperature implantation of radioactive $^{111}$Ag at a dose of 2-3 $\times 10^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$, we identify around 30% of Ag on near-substitutional sites (around 0.45 from ideal S-sites). Upon annealing at 200-300°C, the fraction on near-S sites reaches a maximum around 60-80%. For higher annealing temperatures it decreases again and at 600°C Ag starts to diffuse out of the Si samples. We estimate the activation energy for the dissociation of near-substitutional Ag to be 1.8-2.2 eV. The experimental results are compared to those of Cu in Si, and common features and characteristic differences in the behavior of the two group 1B metals are discussed.