The Effects of Annealing Temperatures on Composition and Strain in SixGe1−x Obtained by Melting Growth of Electrodeposited Ge on Si (100)

Abstract

The effects of annealing temperatures on composition and strain in SixGe1−x, obtained by rapid melting growth of electrodeposited Ge on Si (100) substrate were investigated. Here, a rapid melting process was performed at temperatures of 1000, 1050 and 1100°C for 1 s. All annealed samples show single crystalline structure in (100) orientation. A significant appearance of Si-Ge vibration mode peak at ~00 cm−1 confirms the existence of Si-Ge intermixing due to out-diffusion of Si into Ge region. On a rapid melting process, Ge melts and reaches the thermal equilibrium in short time. Si at Ge/Si interface begins to dissolve once in contact with the molten Ge to produce Si-Ge intermixing. The Si fraction in Si-Ge intermixing was calculated by taking into account the intensity ratio of Ge-Ge and Si-Ge vibration mode peaks and was found to increase with the annealing temperatures. It is found that the strain turns from tensile to compressive as the annealing temperature increases. The Si fraction dependent thermal expansion coefficient of SixGe1−x is a possible cause to generate such strain behavior. The understanding of compositional and strain characteristics is important in Ge/Si heterostructure as these properties seem to give significant effects in device performance.

Composition Dependence Structural and Optical Properties of Silicon Germanium (SiχGe1−χ) Thin Films

“…The XRD data indicate that an increase in annealing temperature leads to lattice distortion and enhanced crystal defect, as evidenced by micro-strain results in Table 2 for Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 composition at 700 • C and 800 • C annealing temperatures [18]. However, strain characteristics are also impacted by changes in composition and lead to an increase in carrier mobility [20]. Surface roughness, particle analysis, and particle density for both Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 and Si 0.9 Ge 0.1 were also analyzed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM).…”

Investigations of ripple pattern formation on Germanium surfaces using 100-keV Ar+ ions

“…The amorphous Ge peak does not shift with change in angle of incidence which indicates that no strain is developed in the samples upon irradiation. Since, the range of 100-keV Ar + ions inside Ge is approximately 72 nm [30] and the penetration depth of the Ar ion laser with a wavelength of 514 nm is about 20 nm [35,36], the crystalline Ge peak is not observed for the case of irradiated samples. The schematic representation of the ion beam penetrating the Ge sample at three different incidence angles is shown in Figure 6.…”