Cooperative growth phenomena in silicon/germanium low-temperature epitaxy

A series of Si:Ge alloys and structures has been prepared by ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition. Alloys of composition 0≤Ge/Si≤0.20 are readily deposited at T=550 °C. Commensurate, defect-free strained layers are deposited up to a critical thickness, whereupon the accumulated stress in the f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 1988-12, Vol.53 (25), p.2555-2557
Main Authors: MEYERSON, B. S, URAM, K. J, LEGOUES, F. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Exact sciences and technology
Physics
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
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Summary:A series of Si:Ge alloys and structures has been prepared by ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition. Alloys of composition 0≤Ge/Si≤0.20 are readily deposited at T=550 °C. Commensurate, defect-free strained layers are deposited up to a critical thickness, whereupon the accumulated stress in the films is accommodated by the formation of dislocation networks in the substrate wafers. A cooperative growth phenomenon is observed where the addition of 10% germane to the gaseous deposition source accelerates silane’s heterogeneous reaction rate by a factor of 25. A model is proposed where Ge acts as a desorption center for mobile hydrogen adatoms on the Si[100] surface, accelerating heterogeneous silane pyrolysis by the enhanced availability of chemisorption sites.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.100206