Atomic force microscopy is used to measure surface morphology of modulation doped Si/SiGe heterostructures. Three components in the surface roughness are observed: μm-scale roughness arising from misfit dislocations formed to relieve strain, 1000-Å-scale roughness believed to be associated with three-dimensional growth of the electron or hole channel layers, and atomic-scale roughness with wavelengths of 10–100 Å. Detailed Fourier spectra of the roughness are obtained and used as input to a scattering computation for determining mobility. The results are compared with other mobility-limiting mechanisms, including scattering from ionized impurities and from dislocations.

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We report a technique for investigating nucleation and growth confined to nanometer scale surfaces. Lithographic and etching processes were used to create arrays of 100 and 150 nm holes through a thin SiO2 layer onto Si(100). Ge dots were nucleated and grown to a few nanometers in diameter within the patterned wells. Transmission electron and atomic force microscopic analyses revealed the presence of 0−1 Ge quantum dots in each of the 100 nm wells and 2−4 dots in the 150 nm wells. For the latter case, size−distance correlations indicated the effective radius of the diffusion field around a growing Ge particle was much larger than for growth on an infinite surface.

Chemical vapor deposition of metals is becoming a desirable alternative to physical deposition techniques (e.g. sputtering, evaporation) for applications in chip wiring. This is due to the possibility of achieving highly conformal coverage and low processing temperatures. Additionally, it is convenient to be able to enhance the physical properties (e.g. corrosion resistance, adhesion, electromigration resistance) of metal films used for chip interconnection by incorporation of an alloying agent. We have investigated the possibility of extending our current copper deposition process to allow for the deposition of copper alloys. By careful selection of the precursors and reactor conditions, simultaneous decomposition of the two compounds to give clean alloy films is effected. Using this co-deposition method, Cu-Co and Cu-Te alloy films were prepared. Precursor and reaction chemistry are discussed as well as some properties of the resulting films.

The thermal stability of SiGe films deposited by ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition was studied. Various Ge compositional profiles, including boxes, trapezoids, and triangles were examined. Planar-view transmission electron microscopy was performed following growth and after furnace annealing at 950 °C for 30 min to determine the presence and density of misfit dislocations. All profiles showed very similar stability behavior when expressed in terms of the total thickness of the film, heff, and the effective strain present in the layer, εeff. Following the anneal, misfit dislocations were observed when heff exceeded the critical thickness, as defined by Matthews and Blakeslee [J. Cryst. Growth 27, 118 (1974)], by a factor of ∼2.