Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Several Si1-xGex/Si heterostructures were grown at 525°C using a commercially available UHV-CVD reactor. Layers with a germanium fraction ranging from 0.15 to 0.5 were examined by means of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Surface waves were found in layers with a thickness above a critical value which decreases rapidly as the Ge fraction is increased. Both experimental and modeling results show that surface waves are generated before misfit dislocations for Ge fractions above 0.3.