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Strain Modification and Thermal Stability of SixGe1−x Films Grown by Ion-Assisted Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

C. J. Tsai
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
H. A. Atwater
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
T. Vreeland
Affiliation:
Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
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Abstract

Significant changes in strain are produced in SixGe1−x epitaxial films grown on Si and Ge (001) substrates as a result of low energy ion beam assisted molecular beam epitaxy (IAMBE). Films grown with concurrent Ar+ or Xe+ ion bombardment are coherent and uniformly strained in the growth direction by up to 1.5% in Ge films and 0.5% in Si films and contain no dislocations. The dependence of the films strain perpendicular to the growth surface on ion-atom flux ratio, and ion energy can be explained by the injection of uniformly distributed point defects. Post-growth isochronal annealing of SixGe1−x films suggests that the existing defects in the IAMBE films are defect complexes and that the strain relaxation path is determined by the overall thermodynamic driving force toward the strain-relieved state.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

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