Editing Ion implantation (section)

===Mesotaxy===
Mesotaxy is the term for the growth of a crystallographically matching phase underneath the surface of the host crystal (compare to [[epitaxy]], which is the growth of the matching phase on the surface of a substrate). In this process, ions are implanted at a high enough energy and dose into a material to create a layer of a second phase, and the temperature is controlled so that the crystal structure of the target is not destroyed. The crystal orientation of the layer can be engineered to match that of the target, even though the exact crystal structure and lattice constant may be very different. For example, after the implantation of nickel ions into a silicon wafer, a layer of [[nickel silicide]] can be grown in which the crystal orientation of the silicide matches that of the silicon.