Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2012
This study is about the structural properties of SiGe and SiGe:C heteroepitaxial layers on Si (001). The structural characterization is based on the application of complementary information content of X-ray scattering techniques like high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and X-ray diffuse scattering (XDS). One main focus of the analysis is to derive a sample model that sufficiently describes all experimental datasets. In addition, the reliability of parameters extracted by just one single method is discussed. It turned out that XRR is more sensitive to the near surface region, indicating the presence of surface roughness and density gradients that do not significantly affect the XRD pattern.