In operandi observation of dynamic annealing: A case study of boron in germanium nanowire devices

We report on the implantation of boron in individual, electrically contacted germanium nanowires with varying diameter and present a technique that monitors the electrical properties of a single device during implantation of ions. This method gives improved access to study the dynamic annealing ability of the nanowire at room temperature promoted by its quasi-one-dimensional confinement. Based on electrical data, we find that the dopant activation efficiency is nontrivially diameter dependent. As the diameter decreases, a transition from a pronounced dynamic-annealing to a radiation-damage dominated regime is observed.