Interface roughening and defect nucleation during solid phase epitaxy regrowth of doped and intrinsic Si{sub 0.83}Ge{sub 0.17} alloys

Journal Article · Tue May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2007 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2732680· OSTI ID:20982885

D'Angelo, D; Piro, A M; Terrasi, A; Grimaldi, M G; Mirabella, S; Bongiorno, C ^[1]

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1. MATIS CNR-INFM and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universita di Catania, Via S. Sofia 64, 95123 Catania (Italy)

Metastable pseudomorphic Si{sub 0.83}Ge{sub 0.17} with thickness of 135 nm was deposited on (001) Si substrate by molecular beam epitaxy and amorphized to a depth of {approx}360 nm, using 3x10{sup 15} cm{sup -2} Ge ions at 270 keV. Samples were regrown by solid phase epitaxy in the 500-600 degree sign C temperature range. The regrowth rate was measured in situ by time resolved reflectivity, while the structure of the epilayers was investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Three regions can be distinguished in SiGe after solid phase epitaxy, independent of the annealing temperature: (1) a 20 nm defect-free layer close to the original crystal-amorphous interface, (2) a middle region with a high density of planar defects, and (3) a layer with dislocations and stacking faults extending up to the surface. The activation energy of the SiGe solid phase epitaxy is equal to the activation energy of Si except in the middle region. The amorphous-crystal interface evolution was studied by transmission electron microscopy of partially regrown samples. In order to study the effects of dopants, some samples were also implanted with B{sup +} and Sb{sup +} ions. At the ion projected range (125 nm for both implants) the regrowth rate increases by a factor of 3 with respect to the unimplanted SiGe, but the defect-free layer again is found to be about 20 nm in all cases. Moreover, the activation energy of the solid phase epitaxy regrowth process does not depend on dopant introduction, while the only observable effect of B or Sb incorporation is a smoothness of the amorphous-crystal interface during solid phase epitaxy.

• OSTI ID: 20982885
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 101; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ACTIVATION ENERGY
ANNEALING
ANTIMONY IONS
BINARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
BORON IONS
CRYSTAL GROWTH
DISLOCATIONS
DOPED MATERIALS
GERMANIUM ALLOYS
GERMANIUM IONS
GERMANIUM SILICIDES
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
NUCLEATION
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON ALLOYS
STACKING FAULTS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0400-1000 K
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY