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Size-tunable strain engineering in Ge nanocrystals embedded within SiO2 and Si3N4

We report a unique ability to control the sign and size of the stress within Ge nanocrystals or nanodots fabricated using a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible process within SiO2 and Si3N4 layers. Very large (as much as 4.5%), size-dependent compressive and tensile strains can be gen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2014-10, Vol.105 (17)
Main Authors: Liao, P. H., Hsu, T. C., Chen, K. H., Cheng, T. H., Hsu, T. M., Wang, C. C., George, T., Li, P. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We report a unique ability to control the sign and size of the stress within Ge nanocrystals or nanodots fabricated using a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor-compatible process within SiO2 and Si3N4 layers. Very large (as much as 4.5%), size-dependent compressive and tensile strains can be generated depending on whether the dot is embedded within either a Si3N4 or a SiO2 layer. Raman measurements reveal significant anharmonicity for smaller Ge dots and possible distortions of the diamond cubic lattice as evidenced by the measured GrĂ¼nesien parameters and confirmed by their transmission electron diffraction patterns. Two completely different mechanisms are proposed to explain the formation of the tensile and compressive strain states, respectively.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4900942