Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:35:10.275Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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
Get access

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Jesser, W.A. and van der Merwe, J.H., Dislocations in Solids, 8, edited by Nabarro, F. R. N. (Elsevier Science Publishers, 1989), P. 421.Google Scholar
[2] People, R. and Bean, J.C., Appl. Phys. Lett. 47, 322 (1985).Google Scholar
[3] Tsao, J.Y., Dodson, B.W., Picraux, S.T., and Cornelison, D.M., Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2455 (1987).Google Scholar
[4] Hull, R. and Bean, J.C., J.Vac. Sci. Technol. A 7, 2580 (1989).Google Scholar
[5] Greene, J.E., CRC Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Science, 2, 47 (1983).Google Scholar
[6] Choi, C.-H., Hultman, L., and Barnett, S.A., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A3, 1587 (1990)Google Scholar
[7] Zuhr, R.A., Pennycook, S.J., Noggle, T.S., Herbots, N. Haynes, T.E., and Apple-ton, B.R., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B 37/38, 16 (1989).Google Scholar
[8] Zalm, P.C. and Beckers, L.J., Appl. Phys. Lett. 41 167 (1982).Google Scholar
[9] Wie, C.R., Tombrello, T.A., and Vreeland, T., J. Appl. Phys. 59, 3743 (1986).Google Scholar
[10] Brice, D.K., Tsao, J.Y. and Picraux, S.T., Nucl. Instrum and Methods 44, 6878 (1989).Google Scholar