Mushroom-free selective epitaxial growth of Si, SiGe and SiGe:B raised sources and drains

Science.gov (United States)

Hartmann, J. M.; Benevent, V.; Barnes, J. P.; Veillerot, M.; Lafond, D.; Damlencourt, J. F.; Morvan, S.; Prévitali, B.; Andrieu, F.; Loubet, N.; Dutartre, D.

2013-05-01

We have evaluated various Cyclic Selective Epitaxial Growth/Etch (CSEGE) processes in order to grow "mushroom-free" Si and SiGe:B Raised Sources and Drains (RSDs) on each side of ultra-short gate length Extra-Thin Silicon-On-Insulator (ET-SOI) transistors. The 750 °C, 20 Torr Si CSEGE process we have developed (5 chlorinated growth steps with four HCl etch steps in-between) yielded excellent crystalline quality, typically 18 nm thick Si RSDs. Growth was conformal along the Si3N4 sidewall spacers, without any poly-Si mushrooms on top of unprotected gates. We have then evaluated on blanket 300 mm Si(001) wafers the feasibility of a 650 °C, 20 Torr SiGe:B CSEGE process (5 chlorinated growth steps with four HCl etch steps in-between, as for Si). As expected, the deposited thickness decreased as the total HCl etch time increased. This came hands in hands with unforeseen (i) decrease of the mean Ge concentration (from 30% down to 26%) and (ii) increase of the substitutional B concentration (from 2 × 1020 cm-3 up to 3 × 1020 cm-3). They were due to fluctuations of the Ge concentration and of the atomic B concentration [B] in such layers (drop of the Ge% and increase of [B] at etch step locations). Such blanket layers were a bit rougher than layers grown using a single epitaxy step, but nevertheless of excellent crystalline quality. Transposition of our CSEGE process on patterned ET-SOI wafers did not yield the expected results. HCl etch steps indeed helped in partly or totally removing the poly-SiGe:B mushrooms on top of the gates. This was however at the expense of the crystalline quality and 2D nature of the ˜45 nm thick Si0.7Ge0.3:B recessed sources and drains selectively grown on each side of the imperfectly protected poly-Si gates. The only solution we have so far identified that yields a lesser amount of mushrooms while preserving the quality of the S/D is to increase the HCl flow during growth steps.

High quality Ge epilayer on Si (1 0 0) with an ultrathin Si1-x Ge x /Si buffer layer by RPCVD

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Da; Guo, Qinglei; Zhang, Nan; Xu, Anli; Wang, Bei; Li, Ya; Wang, Gang

2017-07-01

The authors report a method to grow high quality strain-relaxed Ge epilayer on a combination of low temperature Ge seed layer and Si1-x Ge x /Si superlattice buffer layer by reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition system without any subsequent annealing treatment. Prior to the growth of high quality Ge epilayer, an ultrathin Si1-x Ge x /Si superlattice buffer layer with the thickness of 50 nm and a 460 nm Ge seed layer were deposited successively at low temperature. Then an 840 nm Ge epilayer was grown at high deposition rate with the surface root-mean-square roughness of 0.707 nm and threading dislocation density of 2.5  ×  106 cm-2, respectively. Detailed investigations of the influence of ultrathin low-temperature Si1-x Ge x /Si superlattice buffer layer on the quality of Ge epilayer were performed, which indicates that the crystalline quality of Ge epilayer can be significantly improved by enhancing the Ge concentration of Si1-x Ge x /Si superlattice buffer layer.

On the compliant behaviour of free-standing Si nanostructures on Si(001) for Ge nanoheteroepitaxy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozlowski, Grzegorz

2012-04-24

Selective chemical vapor deposition Ge heteroepitaxy approaches for high quality Ge nanostructure growth with reasonable thermal budget must be developed for local Ge photonic module integration. A promising vision is offered by the compliant substrate effects within nanometer scale Ge/Si heteroepitaxial structures. Here, in contrast to the classical Ge deposition on bulk Si substrates, the thermal and lattice mismatch strain energy accumulated in the Ge epilayer is partially shifted to the free-standing Si nanostructure. This strain partitioning phenomenon is at the very heart of the nanoheteroepitaxy theory (NHE) and, if strain energy levels are correctly balanced, offers the vision to grow defect-free nanostructures of lattice mismatched semiconductors on Si. In case of the Ge/Si heterosystem with a lattice mismatch of 4.2%, the strain partitioning phenomenon is expected to be triggered when free-standing Si nanopillars with the width of 50 nm and below are used. In order to experimentally verify NHE with its compliant substrate effects, a set of free-standing Ge/Si nanostructures with diameter ranging from 150 to 50 nm were fabricated and investigated. The main limitation corresponds to a simultaneous detection of (a) the strain partitioning phenomenon between Ge and Si and (b) the absence of defects on the nano-scale. In this respect, synchrotron-based grazing incidence X-ray diffraction was applied to study the epitaxial relationship, defect and strain characteristics with high resolution and sensitivity in a non-destructive way. Raman spectroscopy supported by finite element method calculations were used to investigate the strain distribution within a single Ge/Si nanostructure. Special focus was devoted to transmission electron microscopy to determine the quality of the Ge epilayer. It was found, that although high quality Ge nanoclusters can be achieved by thermal annealing on Si pillars bigger than 50 nm in width, no proof of strain partitioning

Strain distribution analysis in Si/SiGe line structures for CMOS technology using Raman spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hecker, M; Roelke, M; Hermann, P; Zschech, E; Vartanian, V

2010-01-01

Strained silicon underneath the field-effect transistor gate increases significantly the charge carrier mobility and thus improves the performance of leading-edge Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) devices. For better understanding of the structure-strain relationship on the nanoscale and for optimization of device structures, the measurement of the local strain state has become essential. Raman spectroscopy is used in the present investigation to analyze the strain distribution in and close to silicon/embedded silicon-germanium (SiGe) line structures in conjunction with strain modeling applying finite element analysis. Both experimental results and modeling indicate the impact of geometry on the stress state. An increase of compressive stress within the Si lines is obtained for increasing SiGe line widths and decreasing Si line widths. The stress state within the Si lines is shown to be a mixed one deviating from a pure uniaxial state. Underneath the SiGe cavities, the presence of a tensile stress was observed. To investigate a procedure to scale down the spatial resolution of the Raman measurements, tip-enhanced Raman scattering experiments have been performed on free-standing SiGe lines with 100nm line width and line distance. The results show superior resolution and strain information not attainable in conventional Raman scans.

Structural and electrical evaluation for strained Si/SiGe on insulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dong; Ii, Seiichiro; Ikeda, Ken-ichi; Nakashima, Hideharu; Ninomiya, Masaharu; Nakamae, Masahiko; Nakashima, Hiroshi

2006-01-01

Three strained Si/SiGe on insulator wafers having different Ge fractions were evaluated using dual-metal-oxide-semiconductor (dual-MOS) deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. The interface of SiGe/buried oxide (BOX) shows roughness less than 1 nm by high resolution TEM observation. The interface states densities (D it ) of SiGe/BOX are approximately 1 x 10 12 cm -2 eV -1 , which is approximately one order of magnitude higher than that of Si/BOX in a Si on insulator wafer measured as reference by the same method of dual-MOS DLTS. The high D it of SiGe/BOX is not due to interface roughness but due to Ge atoms. The threading dislocations were also clearly observed by TEM and were analyzed

Improved thermal stability and hole mobilities in a strained-Si/strained-Si1-yGe y/strained-Si heterostructure grown on a relaxed Si1-xGe x buffer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Saurabh; Lee, Minjoo L.; Isaacson, David M.; Fitzgerald, Eugene A.

2005-01-01

A dual channel heterostructure consisting of strained-Si/strained-Si 1-y Ge y on relaxed Si 1-x Ge x (y > x), provides a platform for fabricating metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with high hole mobilities (μ eff ) which depend directly on Ge concentration and strain in the strained-Si 1-y Ge y layer. Ge out-diffuses from the strained-Si 1-y Ge y layer into relaxed Si 1-x Ge x during high temperature processing, reducing peak Ge concentration and strain in the strained-Si 1-y Ge y layer and degrades hole μ eff in these dual channel heterostructures. A heterostructure consisting of strained-Si/strained-Si 1-y Ge y /strained-Si, referred to as a trilayer heterostructure, grown on relaxed Si 1-x Ge x has much reduced Ge out-flux from the strained-Si 1-y Ge y layer and retains higher μ eff after thermal processing. Improved hole μ eff over similar dual channel heterostructures is also observed in this heterostructure. This could be a result of preventing the hole wavefunction tunneling into the low μ eff relaxed Si 1-x Ge x layer due to the additional valence band offset provided by the underlying strained-Si layer. A diffusion coefficient has been formulated and implemented in a finite difference scheme for predicting the thermal budget of the strained SiGe heterostructures. It shows that the trilayer heterostructures have superior thermal budgets at higher Ge concentrations. Ring-shaped MOSFETs were fabricated on both platforms and subjected to various processing temperatures in order to compare the extent of μ eff reduction with thermal budget. Hole μ eff enhancements are retained to a much higher extent in a trilayer heterostructure after high temperature processing as compared to a dual channel heterostructure. The improved thermal stability and hole μ eff of a trilayer heterostructure makes it an ideal platform for fabricating high μ eff MOSFETs that can be processed over higher temperatures without significant losses in hole �

Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Bo

2018-04-14

The thermal stability and contact resistance of TaAlN thin films as electrical contacts to SiGe thermoelectric elements are reported. We demonstrate that a sharp interface is maintained after the device annealed at 800°C for over 100h, indicating that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1±1.3)×10−6Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8±1.6)×10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising contact material for high temperature thermoelectrics such as SiGe.

Study of Si-Ge interdiffusion with phosphorus doping

KAUST Repository

Cai, Feiyang; Anjum, Dalaver H.; Zhang, Xixiang; Xia, Guangrui

2016-01-01

Si-Ge interdiffusion with phosphorus doping was investigated by both experiments and modeling. Ge/Si1-x Ge x/Ge multi-layer structures with 0.75Ge<1, a mid-1018 to low-1019 cm−3 P doping, and a dislocation density of 108 to 109 cm−2 range were studied. The P-doped sample shows an accelerated Si-Ge interdiffusivity, which is 2–8 times of that of the undoped sample. The doping dependence of the Si-Ge interdiffusion was modelled by a Fermi-enhancement factor. The results show that the Si-Ge interdiffusion coefficient is proportional to n2/n2i for the conditions studied, which indicates that the interdiffusion in a high Ge fraction range with n-type doping is dominated by V2− defects. The Fermi-enhancement factor was shown to have a relatively weak dependence on the temperature and the Ge fraction. The results are relevant to the structure and thermal processing condition design of n-type doped Ge/Si and Ge/SiGe based devices such as Ge/Si lasers.

Study of Si-Ge interdiffusion with phosphorus doping

KAUST Repository

Cai, Feiyang

2016-10-28

Si-Ge interdiffusion with phosphorus doping was investigated by both experiments and modeling. Ge/Si1-x Ge x/Ge multi-layer structures with 0.75Ge<1, a mid-1018 to low-1019 cm−3 P doping, and a dislocation density of 108 to 109 cm−2 range were studied. The P-doped sample shows an accelerated Si-Ge interdiffusivity, which is 2–8 times of that of the undoped sample. The doping dependence of the Si-Ge interdiffusion was modelled by a Fermi-enhancement factor. The results show that the Si-Ge interdiffusion coefficient is proportional to n2/n2i for the conditions studied, which indicates that the interdiffusion in a high Ge fraction range with n-type doping is dominated by V2− defects. The Fermi-enhancement factor was shown to have a relatively weak dependence on the temperature and the Ge fraction. The results are relevant to the structure and thermal processing condition design of n-type doped Ge/Si and Ge/SiGe based devices such as Ge/Si lasers.

(113) Facets of Si-Ge/Si Islands; Atomic Scale Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Kassem, Hassan

We have studied, by computer simulation, some static and vibrationnal proprieties of SiGe/Si islands. We have used a Valence Force Field combined to Monte Carlo technique to study the growth of Ge and SiGe on (001)Si substrates. We have focalised on the case of large pyramidal islands presenting (113) facets on the free (001)Si surface with various non uniform composition inside the islands. The deformation inside the islands and Raman spectroscopy are discussed.

Density functional study of the decomposition pathways of SiH₃ and GeH₃ at the Si(100) and Ge(100) surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Ceriotti, M; Montalenti, F; Bernasconi, M

2012-03-14

By means of first-principles calculations we studied the decomposition pathways of SiH₃ on Ge(100) and of GeH₃ on Si(100), of interest for the growth of crystalline SiGe alloys and Si/Ge heterostructures by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We also investigated H desorption via reaction of two adsorbed SiH₂/GeH₂ species (β₂ reaction) or via Eley-Rideal abstraction of surface H atoms from the impinging SiH₃ and GeH₃ species. The calculated activation energies for the different processes suggest that the rate-limiting step for the growth of Si/Ge systems is still the β₂ reaction of two SiH₂ as in the growth of crystalline Si.

Analysis of threshold current of uniaxially tensile stressed bulk Ge and Ge/SiGe quantum well lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jialin; Sun, Junqiang; Gao, Jianfeng; Zhang, Ruiwen

2017-10-30

We propose and design uniaxially tensile stressed bulk Ge and Ge/SiGe quantum well lasers with the stress along direction. The micro-bridge structure is adapted for introducing uniaxial stress in Ge/SiGe quantum well. To enhance the fabrication tolerance, full-etched circular gratings with high reflectivity bandwidths of ~500 nm are deployed in laser cavities. We compare and analyze the density of state, the number of states between Γ- and L-points, the carrier injection efficiency, and the threshold current density for the uniaxially tensile stressed bulk Ge and Ge/SiGe quantum well lasers. Simulation results show that the threshold current density of the Ge/SiGe quantum well laser is much higher than that of the bulk Ge laser, even combined with high uniaxial tensile stress owing to the larger number of states between Γ- and L- points and extremely low carrier injection efficiency. Electrical transport simulation reveals that the reduced effective mass of the hole and the small conduction band offset cause the low carrier injection efficiency of the Ge/SiGe quantum well laser. Our theoretical results imply that unlike III-V material, uniaxially tensile stressed bulk Ge outperforms a Ge/SiGe quantum well with the same strain level and is a promising approach for Si-compatible light sources.

Reduced Pressure-Chemical Vapour Deposition of Si/SiGe heterostructures for nanoelectronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hartmann, J.M.; Andrieu, F.; Lafond, D.; Ernst, T.; Bogumilowicz, Y.; Delaye, V.; Weber, O.; Rouchon, D.; Papon, A.M.; Cherkashin, N.

2008-01-01

We have first of all quantified the impact of pressure on Si and SiGe growth kinetics. Definite growth rate and Ge concentration increases with the pressure have been evidenced at low temperatures (650-750 deg. C). By contrast, the high temperature (950-1050 deg. C) Si growth rate either increases or decreases with pressure (gaseous precursor depending). We have then described the selective epitaxial growth process we use to form Si or Si 0.7 Ge 0.3 :B raised sources and drains on ultra-thin patterned Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) substrates. We have afterwards presented the specifics of SiGe virtual substrates and of the tensile-strained Si layers grown on top (used as templates for the elaboration of tensily strained-SOI wafers). The tensile strain, which can be tailored from 1.3 up to 3 GPa, leads to an electron mobility gain by a factor of 2 in n-Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) built on top. High Ge content SiGe virtual substrates can also be used for the elaboration of compressively strained Ge channels, with impressive hole mobility gains (x9) compared to bulk Si. After that, we have described the main structural features of thick Ge layers grown directly on Si (that can be used as donor wafers for the elaboration of GeOI wafers or as the active medium of near infrared photo-detectors). Finally, we have shown how Si/SiGe multilayers can be used for the formation of high performance 3D devices such as multi-bridge channel or nano-beam gate-all-around FETs, the SiGe sacrificial layers being removed thanks to plasma dry etching, wet etching or in situ gaseous HCl etching

Si/Ge intermixing during Ge Stranski–Krastanov growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alain Portavoce

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Stranski–Krastanov growth of Ge islands on Si(001 has been widely studied. The morphology changes of Ge islands during growth, from nucleation to hut/island formation and growth, followed by hut-to-dome island transformation and dislocation nucleation of domes, have been well described, even at the atomic scale, using techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Although it is known that these islands do not consist of pure Ge (due to Si/Ge intermixing, the composition of the Ge islands is not precisely known. In the present work, atom probe tomography was used to study the composition of buried dome islands at the atomic scale, in the three-dimensional space. The core of the island was shown to contain about 55 atom % Ge, while the Ge composition surrounding this core decreases rapidly in all directions in the islands to reach a Ge concentration of about 15 atom %. The Ge distribution in the islands follows a cylindrical symmetry and Ge segregation is observed only in the {113} facets of the islands. The Ge composition of the wetting layer is not homogeneous, varying from 5 to 30 atom %.

The role of SiGe buffer in growth and relaxation of Ge on free-standing Si(001) nano-pillars.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaumseil, P; Kozlowski, G; Schubert, M A; Yamamoto, Y; Bauer, J; Schülli, T U; Tillack, B; Schroeder, T

2012-09-07

We study the growth and relaxation processes of Ge nano-clusters selectively grown by chemical vapor deposition on free-standing 90 nm wide Si(001) nano-pillars with a thin Si(0.23)Ge(0.77) buffer layer. We found that the dome-shaped SiGe layer with a height of about 28 nm as well as the Ge dot deposited on top of it partially relaxes, mainly by elastic lattice bending. The Si nano-pillar shows a clear compliance behavior-an elastic response of the substrate on the growing film-with the tensile strained top part of the pillar. Additional annealing at 800 °C leads to the generation of misfit dislocation and reduces the compliance effect significantly. This example demonstrates that despite the compressive strain generated due to the surrounding SiO(2) growth mask it is possible to realize an overall tensile strain in the Si nano-pillar and following a compliant substrate effect by using a SiGe buffer layer. We further show that the SiGe buffer is able to improve the structural quality of the Ge nano-dot.

Radiation emission from wrinkled SiGe/SiGe nanostructure

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Fedorchenko, Alexander I.; Cheng, H. H.; Sun, G.; Soref, R. A.

2010-01-01

Roč. 96, č. 11 (2010), s. 113104-113107 ISSN 0003-6951 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : SiGe wrinkled nanostructures * si-based optical emitter * synchrotron radiation Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 3.820, year: 2010 http://apl.aip.org/resource/1/applab/v96/i11/p113104_s1?isAuthorized=no

Surface segregation of Ge during Si growth on Ge/Si(0 0 1) at low temperature observed by high-resolution RBS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakajima, K.; Hosaka, N.; Hattori, T.; Kimura, K.

2002-01-01

The Si/Ge/Si(0 0 1) multilayer with about 1 ML Ge layer is fabricated by evaporating Si overlayer on a Ge/Si(0 0 1) surface at 20-300 deg. C. The depth profile of the Ge atoms is observed by high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy to investigate the possibility of Ge delta doping in Si. The observed profile of the Ge atoms spreads over several atomic layers even at 20 deg. C and a significant amount of Ge is located in the surface layer at higher temperatures. The results at 20-150 deg. C are well explained with two-layer model for surface segregation of the Ge atoms and the segregation rates are estimated. The activation energy for surface segregation of Ge atoms in amorphous Si is evaluated to be 0.035 eV, which is much smaller than the value reported for Si deposition at 500 deg. C. The small activation energy suggests that local heating during the Si deposition is dominant at low temperature

Monolithically Integrated Ge-on-Si Active Photonics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jifeng Liu

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Monolithically integrated, active photonic devices on Si are key components in Si-based large-scale electronic-photonic integration for future generations of high-performance, low-power computation and communication systems. Ge has become an interesting candidate for active photonic devices in Si photonics due to its pseudo-direct gap behavior and compatibility with Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS processing. In this paper, we present a review of the recent progress in Ge-on-Si active photonics materials and devices for photon detection, modulation, and generation. We first discuss the band engineering of Ge using tensile strain, n-type doping, Sn alloying, and separate confinement of Γ vs. L electrons in quantum well (QW structures to transform the material towards a direct band gap semiconductor for enhancing optoelectronic properties. We then give a brief overview of epitaxial Ge-on-Si materials growth, followed by a summary of recent investigations towards low-temperature, direct growth of high crystallinity Ge and GeSn alloys on dielectric layers for 3D photonic integration. Finally, we review the most recent studies on waveguide-integrated Ge-on-Si photodetectors (PDs, electroabsorption modulators (EAMs, and laser diodes (LDs, and suggest possible future research directions for large-scale monolithic electronic-photonic integrated circuits on a Si platform.

Density-functional theory molecular dynamics simulations of a-HfO2/a-SiO2/SiGe and a-HfO2/a-SiO2/Ge with a-SiO2 and a-SiO suboxide interfacial layers

Science.gov (United States)

Chagarov, Evgueni A.; Kavrik, Mahmut S.; Fang, Ziwei; Tsai, Wilman; Kummel, Andrew C.

2018-06-01

Comprehensive Density-Functional Theory (DFT) Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to investigate interfaces between a-HfO2 and SiGe or Ge semiconductors with fully-stoichiometric a-SiO2 or sub-oxide SiO interlayers. The electronic structure of the selected stacks was calculated with a HSE06 hybrid functional. Simulations were performed before and after hydrogen passivation of residual interlayer defects. For the SiGe substrate with Ge termination prior to H passivation, the stacks with a-SiO suboxide interlayer (a-HfO2/a-SiO/SiGe) demonstrate superior electronic properties and wider band-gaps than the stacks with fully coordinated a-SiO2 interlayers (a-HfO2/a-SiO2/SiGe). After H passivation, most of the a-HfO2/a-SiO2/SiGe defects are passivated. To investigate effect of random placement of Si and Ge atoms additional simulations with a randomized SiGe slab were performed demonstrating improvement of electronic structure. For Ge substrates, before H passivation, the stacks with a SiO suboxide interlayer (a-HfO2/a-SiO/Ge) also demonstrate wider band-gaps than the stacks with fully coordinated a-SiO2 interlayers (a-HfO2/a-SiO2/Ge). However, even for a-HfO2/a-SiO/Ge, the Fermi level is shifted close to the conduction band edge (CBM) consistent with Fermi level pinning. Again, after H passivation, most of the a-HfO2/a-SiO2/Ge defects are passivated. The stacks with fully coordinated a-SiO2 interlayers have much stronger deformation and irregularity in the semiconductor (SiGe or Ge) upper layers leading to multiple under-coordinated atoms which create band-edge states and decrease the band-gap prior to H passivation.

Extended x-ray absorption fine structure studies of amorphous and crystalline Si-Ge alloys with synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kajiyama, Hiroshi

1988-01-01

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) is a powerful probe to study the local structure around the atom of a specific element. In conventional EXAFS analysis, it has been known that reliable structures are obtained with the different values of absorption edge energy for different neighboring atoms. It is shown in this study that the Ge-K edge EXAFS resulting from the Ge-Ge and Ge-Si bonds in hydrogenated amorphous Si-Ge alloys was able to be excellently explained by a unique absorption edge energy value, provided that a newly developed formula based on the spherical wave function of photoelectrons is used. The microscopic structures of hydrogenated amorphous Si-Ge alloys and crystalline Si-Ge alloys have been determined using the EXAFS method. The lengths of Ge-Ge and Ge-Si bonds were constant throughout their entire composition range, and it was found that the length of Ge-Si bond was close to the average value of the bond lengths of both Ge and Si crystals. In crystalline Si-Ge alloys, it has been shown that the bonds relaxed completely, while the lattice constant varied monotonously with the composition. (Kako, I.)

Band structure analysis in SiGe nanowires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amato, Michele [' Centro S3' , CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, via Campi 213/A, 41100 Modena (Italy); Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell' Ingegneria, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via Amendola 2 Pad. Morselli, I-42100 Reggio Emilia (Italy); Palummo, Maurizia [European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility (ETSF) (Italy); CNR-INFM-SMC, Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Roma, ' Tor Vergata' , via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma (Italy); Ossicini, Stefano, E-mail: stefano.ossicini@unimore.it [' Centro S3' , CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, via Campi 213/A, 41100 Modena (Italy) and Dipartimento di Scienze e Metodi dell' Ingegneria, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via Amendola 2 Pad. Morselli, I-42100 Reggio Emilia (Italy) and European Theoretical Spectroscopy Facility - ETSF (Italy) and Centro Interdipartimentale ' En and Tech' , Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via Amendola 2 Pad. Morselli, I-42100 Reggio Emilia (Italy)

2012-06-05

One of the main challenges for Silicon-Germanium nanowires (SiGe NWs) electronics is the possibility to modulate and engine their electronic properties in an easy way, in order to obtain a material with the desired electronic features. Diameter and composition constitute two crucial ways for the modification of the band gap and of the band structure of SiGe NWs. Within the framework of density functional theory we present results of ab initio calculations regarding the band structure dependence of SiGe NWs on diameter and composition. We point out the main differences with respect to the case of pure Si and Ge wires and we discuss the particular features of SiGe NWs that are useful for future technological applications.

Band structure analysis in SiGe nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amato, Michele; Palummo, Maurizia; Ossicini, Stefano

2012-01-01

One of the main challenges for Silicon-Germanium nanowires (SiGe NWs) electronics is the possibility to modulate and engine their electronic properties in an easy way, in order to obtain a material with the desired electronic features. Diameter and composition constitute two crucial ways for the modification of the band gap and of the band structure of SiGe NWs. Within the framework of density functional theory we present results of ab initio calculations regarding the band structure dependence of SiGe NWs on diameter and composition. We point out the main differences with respect to the case of pure Si and Ge wires and we discuss the particular features of SiGe NWs that are useful for future technological applications.

Photoemission Studies of Si Quantum Dots with Ge Core: Dots formation, Intermixing at Si-clad/Ge-core interface and Quantum Confinement Effect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yudi Darma

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Spherical Si nanocrystallites with Ge core (~20nm in average dot diameter have been prepared by controlling selective growth conditions of low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD on ultrathin SiO2 using alternately pure SiH4 and 5% GeH4 diluted with He. XPS results confirm the highly selective growth of Ge on the pregrown Si dots and subsequently complete coverage by Si selective growth on Ge/Si dots. Compositional mixing and the crystallinity of Si dots with Ge core as a function of annealing temperature in the range of 550-800oC has been evaluated by XPS analysis and confirms the diffusion of Ge atoms from Ge core towards the Si clad accompanied by formation of GeOx at the Si clad surface. The first subband energy at the valence band of Si dot with Ge core has been measured as an energy shift at the top of the valence band density of state using XPS. The systematic shift of the valence band maximum towards higher binding energy with progressive deposition in the dot formation indicate the charging effect of dots and SiO2 layer by photoemission during measurements.

Photoemission Studies of Si Quantum Dots with Ge Core: Dots formation, Intermixing at Si-clad/Ge-core interface and Quantum Confinement Effect

OpenAIRE

Yudi Darma

2008-01-01

Spherical Si nanocrystallites with Ge core (~20nm in average dot diameter) have been prepared by controlling selective growth conditions of low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) on ultrathin SiO2 using alternately pure SiH4 and 5% GeH4 diluted with He. XPS results confirm the highly selective growth of Ge on the pregrown Si dots and subsequently complete coverage by Si selective growth on Ge/Si dots. Compositional mixing and the crystallinity of Si dots with Ge core as a function of ...

Next Generation, Si-Compatible Materials and Devices in the Si-Ge-Sn System

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-09

and conclusions The work initially focused on growth of next generation Ge1-ySny alloys on Ge buffered Si wafers via UHV CVD depositions of Ge3H8...Abstract The work initially focused on growth of next generation Ge1-ySny alloys on Ge buffered Si wafers via UHV CVD depositions of Ge3H8, SnD4. The...AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0044 Next generation, Si -compatible materials and devices in the Si - Ge -Sn system John Kouvetakis ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY Final

Thin SiGe virtual substrates for Ge heterostructures integration on silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cecchi, S.; Chrastina, D.; Frigerio, J.; Isella, G.; Gatti, E.; Guzzi, M.; Müller Gubler, E.; Paul, D. J.

2014-01-01

The possibility to reduce the thickness of the SiGe virtual substrate, required for the integration of Ge heterostructures on Si, without heavily affecting the crystal quality is becoming fundamental in several applications. In this work, we present 1 μm thick Si 1−x Ge x buffers (with x > 0.7) having different designs which could be suitable for applications requiring a thin virtual substrate. The rationale is to reduce the lattice mismatch at the interface with the Si substrate by introducing composition steps and/or partial grading. The relatively low growth temperature (475 °C) makes this approach appealing for complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor integration. For all the investigated designs, a reduction of the threading dislocation density compared to constant composition Si 1−x Ge x layers was observed. The best buffer in terms of defects reduction was used as a virtual substrate for the deposition of a Ge/SiGe multiple quantum well structure. Room temperature optical absorption and photoluminescence analysis performed on nominally identical quantum wells grown on both a thick graded virtual substrate and the selected thin buffer demonstrates a comparable optical quality, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Exceptional cracking behavior in H-implanted Si/B-doped Si0.70Ge0.30/Si heterostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Da; Wang, Dadi; Chang, Yongwei; Li, Ya; Ding, Rui; Li, Jiurong; Chen, Xiao; Wang, Gang; Guo, Qinglei

2018-01-01

The cracking behavior in H-implanted Si/B-doped Si0.70Ge0.30/Si structures after thermal annealing was investigated. The crack formation position is found to closely correlate with the thickness of the buried Si0.70Ge0.30 layer. For H-implanted Si containing a buried 3-nm-thick B-doped Si0.70Ge0.30 layer, localized continuous cracking occurs at the interfaces on both sides of the Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer. Once the thickness of the buried Si0.70Ge0.30 layer increases to 15 and 70 nm, however, a continuous sharp crack is individually observed along the interface between the Si substrate and the B-doped Si0.70Ge0.30 interlayer. We attribute this exceptional cracking behavior to the existence of shear stress on both sides of the buried Si0.70Ge0.30 layer and the subsequent trapping of hydrogen, which leads to a crack in a well-controlled manner. This work may pave the way for high-quality Si or SiGe membrane transfer in a feasible manner, thus expediting its potential applications to ultrathin silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or silicon-germanium-on-insulator (SGOI) production.

Formation, structure, and phonon confinement effect of nanocrystalline Si1-xGex in SiO2-Si-Ge cosputtered films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Y.M.; Wu, X.L.; Siu, G.G.; Huang, G.S.; Shen, J.C.; Hu, D.S.

2004-01-01

Using magnetron cosputtering of SiO 2 , Ge, and Si targets, Si-based SiO 2 :Ge:Si films were fabricated for exploring the influence of Si target proportion (P Si ) and annealing temperature (Ta) on formation, local structure, and phonon properties of nanocrystalline Si 1-x Ge x (nc-Si 1-x Ge x ). At low P Si and Ta higher than 800 deg. C, no nc-Si 1-x Ge x but a kind of composite nanocrystal consisting of a Ge core, GeSi shell, and amorphous Si outer shell is formed in the SiO 2 matrix. At moderate P Si , nc-Si 1-x Ge x begins to be formed at Ta=800 deg. C and coexists with nc-Ge at Ta=1100 deg. C. At high P Si , it was disclosed that both optical phonon frequency and lattice spacing of nc-Si 1-x Ge x increase with raising Ta. The possible origin of this phenomenon is discussed by considering three factors, the phonon confinement, strain effect, and composition variation of nc-Si 1-x Ge x . This work will be helpful in understanding the growth process of ternary GeSiO films and beneficial to further investigations on optical properties of nc-Ge 1-x Si x in the ternary matrix

The Effects of Annealing Temperatures on Composition and Strain in Si x Ge1-x Obtained by Melting Growth of Electrodeposited Ge on Si (100).

Science.gov (United States)

Abidin, Mastura Shafinaz Zainal; Morshed, Tahsin; Chikita, Hironori; Kinoshita, Yuki; Muta, Shunpei; Anisuzzaman, Mohammad; Park, Jong-Hyeok; Matsumura, Ryo; Mahmood, Mohamad Rusop; Sadoh, Taizoh; Hashim, Abdul Manaf

2014-02-24

The effects of annealing temperatures on composition and strain in Si x Ge 1- 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 ~400 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 Si x Ge 1- 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.

Carrier recombination in tailored multilayer Si/Si{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} nanostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mala, S.A. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 (United States); Tsybeskov, L., E-mail: tsybesko@njit.edu [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102 (United States); Lockwood, D.J.; Wu, X.; Baribeau, J.-M. [National Research Council, Ottawa, ON, Canada KIA 0R6 (Canada)

2014-11-15

Photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed in Si/Si{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} nanostructures with a single Si{sub 0.92}Ge{sub 0.08} nanometer-thick layer incorporated into Si/Si{sub 0.6}Ge{sub 0.4} cluster multilayers. Under pulsed laser excitation, the PL decay associated with the Si{sub 0.92}Ge{sub 0.08} nano-layer is found to be nearly a 1000 times faster compared to that in Si/Si{sub 0.6}Ge{sub 0.4} cluster multilayers. A model considering Si/SiGe hetero-interface composition and explaining the fast and slow time-dependent recombination rates is proposed.

Stress-directed compositional patterning of SiGe substrates for lateral quantum barrier manipulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Swapnadip; Kaiser, Daniel; Sinno, Talid; Bonilla, Jose; Han, Sang M.

2015-01-01

While vertical stacking of quantum well and dot structures is well established in heteroepitaxial semiconductor materials, manipulation of quantum barriers in the lateral directions poses a significant engineering challenge. Here, we demonstrate lateral quantum barrier manipulation in a crystalline SiGe alloy using structured mechanical fields to drive compositional redistribution. To apply stress, we make use of a nano-indenter array that is pressed against a Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 wafer in a custom-made mechanical press. The entire assembly is then annealed at high temperatures, during which the larger Ge atoms are selectively driven away from areas of compressive stress. Compositional analysis of the SiGe substrates reveals that this approach leads to a transfer of the indenter array pattern to the near-surface elemental composition, resulting in near 100% Si regions underneath each indenter that are separated from each other by the surrounding Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 bulk. The “stress transfer” process is studied in detail using multiscale computer simulations that demonstrate its robustness across a wide range of applied stresses and annealing temperatures. While the “Si nanodot” structures formed here are not intrinsically useful as quantum structures, it is anticipated that the stress transfer process may be modified by judicious control of the SiGe film thickness and indenter array pattern to form more technologically useful structures

Formation of Si/Ge/Si heterostructures with quantum dots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zinov'ev, V.A.; Dvurechenskij, A.V.; Novikov, P.L.

2003-01-01

It is present the Monte Carlo simulation of epitaxial embedding of faceted three-dimensional Ge islands (quantum dots) in a Si matrix. Under a Si flux these islands expand and undergo a shape change (from pyramidal to drop-like shape). The main expansion occurs at initial stage of embedding in Si (deposition of 1-2 monolayers). This change is controlled by surface diffusion. The shape of island can be preserved when one uses the higher Si fluxes. The reason of island conservation lies in blocking of Ge surface diffusion [ru

Magnetic behavior of Si-Ge bond in SixGe4-x nano-clusters

Science.gov (United States)

Nahali, Masoud; Mehri, Ali

2018-06-01

The structure of SixGe4-x nano-clusters were optimized by MPW1B95 level of theory using MG3S and SDB-aug-cc-PVTZ basis set. The agreement of the calculated ionization and dissociation energies with experimental values validates the reported structures of nano-clusters and justifies the use of hybrid meta density functional method. Since the Si-Si bond is stronger than Si-Ge and Ge-Ge bonds, the Si-Si, Si-Ge, and Ge-Ge diagonal bonds determine the precedence of the stability in these nano-clusters. The hybrid meta density functional calculations were carried out to investigate the adsorption of CO on all possible SixGe4-x nano-clusters. It was found that the silicon atom generally makes a stronger bond with CO than germanium and thereby preferentially affects the shape of structures having higher multiplicity. In Si-Ge structures with higher spin more than 95% of spins accumulate on positions with less bonds to other atoms of the cluster. Through CO adsorption on these clusters bridge structures are made that behave as spin bridge which conduct the spin from the nano-cluster surface to the adsorbate atoms. A better understanding of bridged structures was achieved upon introducing the 'spin bridge' concept. Based on exhaustive spin density analysis, it was found that the reason for the extra negative charge on oxygen in the bridged structures is the relocation of spin from the surface through the bridge.

Materials and devices for quantum information processing in Si/SiGe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sailer, Juergen

2010-12-15

In this thesis, we cover and discuss the complete way from material science, the fabrication of two-dimensional electron systems (2DES) in Si/SiGe heterostructures in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), to quantum effects in few-electron devices based on these samples. We applied and compared two different approaches for the creation of pseudo-substrates that are as smooth, relaxed and defect free as possible. In the 'graded buffer' concept, starting from pure Si, the Ge content of the SiGe alloy is slowly and linearly increased until the desired Ge content is reached. In contrast, in the so-called 'low-temperature Si' concept, the SiGe alloy is deposited directly with the final Ge content, but onto a layer of highly defective Si. In terms of crystal defects, the 'graded buffer' turned out to be superior in comparison to the 'low-temperature Si' concept at the expense of a significantly higher material consumption. By continued optimization of the growth process, aiming at reducing the influence of the impurity, it nevertheless became possible to improve the charge carrier mobility from a mere 2000 cm{sup 2}/(Vs) to a record mobility exceeding 100 000 cm{sup 2}/(Vs). Within this work, we extended our MBE system with an electron beam evaporator for nuclear spin free {sup 28}Si. Together with the already existing effusion cell for {sup 70}Ge we were able to realize first 2DES in a nuclear spin free environment after successfully putting it to operation. The highest mobility 2DES in a nuclear spin free environment which have been realized in this thesis exhibited electron mobilities of up to 55 000 cm{sup 2}/(Vs). Quantum effects in Si/SiGe have been investigated in two- and zero-dimensional nanostructures. A remarkable phenomenon in the regime of the integer quantum Hall effect in Si/SiGe 2DES has been discovered and researched. For applications in quantum information processing and for the creation of qubits it is mandatory to

Experiments and Modeling of Si-Ge Interdiffusion with Partial Strain Relaxation in Epitaxial SiGe Heterostructures

KAUST Repository

Dong, Y.

2014-07-26

Si-Ge interdiffusion and strain relaxation were studied in a metastable SiGe epitaxial structure. With Ge concentration profiling and ex-situ strain analysis, it was shown that during thermal anneals, both Si-Ge interdiffusion and strain relaxation occurred. Furthermore, the time evolutions of both strain relaxation and interdiffusion were characterized. It showed that during the ramp-up stage of thermal anneals at higher temperatures (800°C and 840°C), the degree of relaxation, R, reached a “plateau”, while interdiffusion was negligible. With the approximation that the R value is constant after the ramp-up stage, a quantitative interdiffusivity model was built to account for both the effect of strain relaxation and the impact of the relaxation induced dislocations, which gave good agreement with the experiment data.

Impact of GaAs buffer thickness on electronic quality of GaAs grown on graded Ge/GeSi/Si substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlin, J. A.; Ringel, S. A.; Fitzgerald, E. A.; Bulsara, M.; Keyes, B. M.

2000-01-01

Minority carrier lifetimes and interface recombination velocities for GaAs grown on a Si wafer using compositionally graded GeSi buffers have been investigated as a function of GaAs buffer thickness using monolayer-scale control of the GaAs/Ge interface nucleation during molecular beam epitaxy. The GaAs layers are free of antiphase domain disorder, with threading dislocation densities measured by etch pit density of 5x10 5 -2x10 6 cm -2 . Analysis indicates no degradation in either minority carrier lifetime or interface recombination velocity down to a GaAs buffer thickness of 0.1 μm. In fact, record high minority carrier lifetimes exceeding 10 ns have been obtained for GaAs on Si with a 0.1 μm GaAs buffer. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy reveals that cross diffusion of Ga, As, and Ge at the GaAs/Ge interface formed on the graded GeSi buffers are below detection limits in the interface region, indicating that polarity control of the GaAs/Ge interface formed on GeSi/Si substrates can be achieved. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics

Amorphization threshold in Si-implanted strained SiGe alloy layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simpson, T.W.; Love, D.; Endisch, E.; Goldberg, R.D.; Mitchell, I.V.; Haynes, T.E.; Baribeau, J.M.

1994-12-01

The authors have examined the damage produced by Si-ion implantation into strained Si 1-x Ge x epilayers. Damage accumulation in the implanted layers was monitored in situ by time-resolved reflectivity and measured by ion channeling techniques to determine the amorphization threshold in strained Si 1-x Ge x (x = 0.16 and 0.29) over the temperature range 30--110 C. The results are compared with previously reported measurements on unstrained Si 1-x Ge x , and with the simple model used to describe those results. They report here data which lend support to this model and which indicate that pre-existing strain does not enhance damage accumulation in the alloy layer

From plastic to elastic stress relaxation in highly mismatched SiGe/Si heterostructures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isa, Fabio; Salvalaglio, Marco; Dasilva, Yadira Arroyo Rojas; Jung, Arik; Isella, Giovanni; Erni, Rolf; Niedermann, Philippe; Gröning, Pierangelo; Montalenti, Francesco; Känel, Hans von

2016-01-01

We present a detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of the epitaxial stress relaxation process in micro-structured compositionally graded alloys. We focus on the pivotal SiGe/Si(001) system employing patterned Si substrates at the micrometre-size scale to address the distribution of threading and misfit dislocations within the heterostructures. SiGe alloys with linearly increasing Ge content were deposited by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition resulting in isolated, tens of micrometre tall 3D crystals. We demonstrate that complete elastic relaxation is achieved by appropriate choice of the Ge compositional grading rate and Si pillar width. We investigate the nature and distribution of dislocations along the [001] growth direction in SiGe crystals by transmission electron microscopy, chemical defect etching and etch pit counting. We show that for 3 μm wide Si pillars and a Ge grading rate of 1.5% μm −1 , only misfit dislocations are present while their fraction is reduced for higher Ge grading rates and larger structures due to dislocation interactions. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of theoretical calculations based on linear elasticity theory describing the competition between purely elastic and plastic stress relaxation with increasing crystal width and Ge compositional grading rate.

Analysis of Si/SiGe Heterostructure Solar Cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashish Kumar Singh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Sunlight is the largest source of carbon-neutral energy. Large amount of energy, about 4.3 × 1020 J/hr (Lewis, 2005, is radiated because of nuclear fusion reaction by sun, but it is unfortunate that it is not exploited to its maximum level. Various photovoltaic researches are ongoing to find low cost, and highly efficient solar cell to fulfil looming energy crisis around the globe. Thin film solar cell along with enhanced absorption property will be the best, so combination of SiGe alloy is considered. The paper presented here consists of a numerical model of Si/Si1-xGex heterostructure solar cell. The research has investigated characteristics such as short circuit current density (Jsc, generation rate (G, absorption coefficient (α, and open circuit voltage (Voc with optimal Ge concentration. The addition of Ge content to Si layer will affect the property of material and can be calculated with the use of Vegard’s law. Due to this, short circuit current density increases.

A high performance Ge/Si0.5Ge0.5/Si heterojunction dual sources tunneling transistor with a U-shaped channel

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Liu, Hongxia; Wang, Shulong; Wang, Qianqiong; Chen, Shupeng

2017-06-01

In this paper, a new Ge/Si0.5Ge0.5/Si heterojunction dual sources tunneling transistor with a U-shaped channel (Ge_DUTFET) is proposed and investigated by Silvaco-Atlas simulation. The line tunneling perpendicular to channel and point tunneling parallel to channel simultaneously occur on both sides of the gate. The Ge is chosen as the source region material to increase the line tunneling current. The designed heterojunction between the Ge source and Si channel decreases the point tunneling barrier width to enhance the point tunneling current. And this heterojunction can also promote the Ge_DUTFET to occur point tunneling at the small gate voltage, which makes it obtain the smaller turn-on voltage. Furthermore, the Si0.5Ge0.5 buffer layer is also helpful for the enhancement of performance. The simulation results reveal that Ge_DUTFET has the better performance compared with the Si_DUTFET. The on-state current and average subthreshold swing of Ge_DUTFET are 1.11 × 10-5A/μm and 35.1mV/dec respectively. The max cut-off frequency (fT) and gain bandwidth product (GBW) are 26.6 GHz and 16.6 GHz respectively. The fT and GBW of the Ge_DUTFET are respectively increased by ∼27.4% and ∼84.3% compared with the Si_DUTFET.

Study of low dimensional SiGe island on Si for potential visible Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetector

Science.gov (United States)

Rahim, Alhan Farhanah Abd; Zainal Badri, Nur'Amirah; Radzali, Rosfariza; Mahmood, Ainorkhilah

2017-11-01

In this paper, an investigation of design and simulation of silicon germanium (SiGe) islands on silicon (Si) was presented for potential visible metal semiconductor metal (MSM) photodetector. The characterization of the performances in term of the structural, optical and electrical properties of the structures was analyzed from the simulation results. The project involves simulation using SILVACO Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) tools. The different structures of the silicon germanium (SiGe) island on silicon substrate were created, which were large SiGe, small SiGe, combination SiGe and bulk Ge. All the structures were tested for potential Metal Semiconductor Metal (MSM) photodetector. The extracted data such as current versus voltage characteristic, current gain and spectral response were obtained using ATLAS SILVACO tools. The performance of SiGe island structures and bulk Ge on Si substrate as (MSM) photodetector was evaluated by photo and dark current-voltage (I-V) characteristics. It was found that SiGe islands exhibited higher energy band gap compared to bulk Ge. The SiGe islands current-voltage characteristics showed improved current gain compared to bulk Ge. Specifically the enhancement of the islands gain was contributed by the enhanced photo currents and lower dark currents. The spectral responses of the SiGe islands showed peak response at 590 nm (yellow) which is at the visible wavelength. This shows the feasibility of the SiGe islands to be utilized for visible photodetections.

Study of low dimensional SiGe island on Si for potential visible Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abd Rahim Alhan Farhanah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an investigation of design and simulation of silicon germanium (SiGe islands on silicon (Si was presented for potential visible metal semiconductor metal (MSM photodetector. The characterization of the performances in term of the structural, optical and electrical properties of the structures was analyzed from the simulation results. The project involves simulation using SILVACO Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD tools. The different structures of the silicon germanium (SiGe island on silicon substrate were created, which were large SiGe, small SiGe, combination SiGe and bulk Ge. All the structures were tested for potential Metal Semiconductor Metal (MSM photodetector. The extracted data such as current versus voltage characteristic, current gain and spectral response were obtained using ATLAS SILVACO tools. The performance of SiGe island structures and bulk Ge on Si substrate as (MSM photodetector was evaluated by photo and dark current-voltage (I-V characteristics. It was found that SiGe islands exhibited higher energy band gap compared to bulk Ge. The SiGe islands current-voltage characteristics showed improved current gain compared to bulk Ge. Specifically the enhancement of the islands gain was contributed by the enhanced photo currents and lower dark currents. The spectral responses of the SiGe islands showed peak response at 590 nm (yellow which is at the visible wavelength. This shows the feasibility of the SiGe islands to be utilized for visible photodetections.

Carbon redistribution and precipitation in high temperature ion-implanted strained Si/SiGe/Si multi-layered structures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaiduk, Peter; Hansen, John Lundsgaard; Nylandsted Larsen, Arne

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract Carbon depth profiles after high temperature implantation in strained Si/SiGe/Si multilayered system and induced structural defects.......Graphical abstract Carbon depth profiles after high temperature implantation in strained Si/SiGe/Si multilayered system and induced structural defects....

Production of three-dimensional quantum dot lattice of Ge/Si core-shell quantum dots and Si/Ge layers in an alumina glass matrix.

Science.gov (United States)

Buljan, M; Radić, N; Sancho-Paramon, J; Janicki, V; Grenzer, J; Bogdanović-Radović, I; Siketić, Z; Ivanda, M; Utrobičić, A; Hübner, R; Weidauer, R; Valeš, V; Endres, J; Car, T; Jerčinović, M; Roško, J; Bernstorff, S; Holy, V

2015-02-13

We report on the formation of Ge/Si quantum dots with core/shell structure that are arranged in a three-dimensional body centered tetragonal quantum dot lattice in an amorphous alumina matrix. The material is prepared by magnetron sputtering deposition of Al2O3/Ge/Si multilayer. The inversion of Ge and Si in the deposition sequence results in the formation of thin Si/Ge layers instead of the dots. Both materials show an atomically sharp interface between the Ge and Si parts of the dots and layers. They have an amorphous internal structure that can be crystallized by an annealing treatment. The light absorption properties of these complex materials are significantly different compared to films that form quantum dot lattices of the pure Ge, Si or a solid solution of GeSi. They show a strong narrow absorption peak that characterizes a type II confinement in accordance with theoretical predictions. The prepared materials are promising for application in quantum dot solar cells.

X-ray grazing incidence study of inhomogeneous strain relaxation in Si/SiGe wires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hesse, A.; Zhuang, Y.; Holy, V.; Stangl, J.; Zerlauth, S.; Schaeffler, F.; Bauer, G.; Darowski, N.; Pietsch, U.

2003-01-01

The elastic strain relaxation in a series of dry-etched periodic multilayer Si/SiGe wire samples with different etching depths was investigated systematically by means of grazing incidence diffraction (GID). The samples were patterned by holographic lithography and reactive ion etching from a Si/SiGe superlattice grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were employed to obtain information on the shape of the wires. The inhomogeneous strain distribution in the etched wires and in the non-etched part of the multilayers was derived by means of finite element calculations which were used as an input for simulations of the scattered X-ray intensities in depth dependent GID. The theoretical calculations for the scattered intensities are based on distorted-wave Born approximation. The unperturbed scattering potential was chosen with a reduced optical density corresponding to the ratio of wire width and wire period, in order to reflect the main interaction between the incident X-rays and the patterned samples. The calculations are in good agreement with the experimental data demonstrating the variation of strain relaxation with depth

Ge nanobelts with high compressive strain fabricated by secondary oxidation of self-assembly SiGe rings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lu, Weifang; Li, Cheng; Lin, Guangyang

2015-01-01

Curled Ge nanobelts were fabricated by secondary oxidation of self-assembly SiGe rings, which were exfoliated from the SiGe stripes on the insulator. The Ge-rich SiGe stripes on insulator were formed by hololithography and modified Ge condensation processes of Si0.82Ge0.18 on SOI substrate. Ge...... nanobelts under a residual compressive strain of 2% were achieved, and the strain should be higher before partly releasing through bulge islands and breakage of the curled Ge nanobelts during the secondary oxidation process. The primary factor leading to compressive strain is thermal shrinkage of Ge...... nanobelts, which extrudes to Ge nanobelts in radial and tangent directions during the cooling process. This technique is promising for application in high-mobility Ge nano-scale transistors...

Atomic Layer Deposition of Al2O3 on H-Passivated GeSi: Initial Surface Reaction Pathways with H/GeSi(100)-2 × 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Shi; Qing-Qing, Sun; Lin, Dong; Han, Liu; Shi-Jin, Ding; Wei, Zhang

2009-01-01

The reaction mechanisms of Al(CH 3 ) 3 (TMA) adsorption on H-passivated GeSi(100)-2 × 1 surface are investigated with density functional theory. The Si–Ge and Ge–Ge one-dimer cluster models are employed to represent the GeSi(100)-2 × 1 surface with different Ge compositions. For a Si-Ge dimer of a H-passivated SiGe surface, TMA adsorption on both Si–H * and Ge–H * sites is considered. The activation barrier of TMA with the Si–H * site (1.2eV) is higher than that of TMA with the Ge-H * site (0.91 eV), which indicates that the reaction proceeds more slowly on the Si-H * site than on the Ge-H * site. In addition, adsorption of TMA is more energetically favorable on the Ge–Ge dimer than on the Si–Ge dimer of H-passivated SiGe. (atomic and molecular physics)

Poly-SiGe for MEMS-above-CMOS sensors

CERN Document Server

Gonzalez Ruiz, Pilar; Witvrouw, Ann

2014-01-01

Polycrystalline SiGe has emerged as a promising MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems) structural material since it provides the desired mechanical properties at lower temperatures compared to poly-Si, allowing the direct post-processing on top of CMOS. This CMOS-MEMS monolithic integration can lead to more compact MEMS with improved performance. The potential of poly-SiGe for MEMS above-aluminum-backend CMOS integration has already been demonstrated. However, aggressive interconnect scaling has led to the replacement of the traditional aluminum metallization by copper (Cu) metallization, due to its lower resistivity and improved reliability. Poly-SiGe for MEMS-above-CMOS sensors demonstrates the compatibility of poly-SiGe with post-processing above the advanced CMOS technology nodes through the successful fabrication of an integrated poly-SiGe piezoresistive pressure sensor, directly fabricated above 0.13 m Cu-backend CMOS. Furthermore, this book presents the first detailed investigation on the influence o...

Metastability and relaxation in tensile SiGe on Ge(001) virtual substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frigerio, Jacopo; Lodari, Mario; Chrastina, Daniel; Mondiali, Valeria; Isella, Giovanni; Bollani, Monica

2014-01-01

We systematically study the heteroepitaxy of SiGe alloys on Ge virtual substrates in order to understand strain relaxation processes and maximize the tensile strain in the SiGe layer. The degree of relaxation is measured by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, and surface morphology is characterized by atomic force microscopy. The results are analyzed in terms of a numerical model, which considers dislocation nucleation, multiplication, thermally activated glide, and strain-dependent blocking. Relaxation is found to be sensitive to growth rate and substrate temperature as well as epilayer misfit and thickness, and growth parameters are found which allow a SiGe film with over 4 GPa of tensile stress to be obtained.

Enhanced direct-gap light emission from Si-capped n+-Ge epitaxial layers on Si after post-growth rapid cyclic annealing: impact of non-radiative interface recombination toward Ge/Si double heterostructure lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Higashitarumizu, Naoki; Ishikawa, Yasuhiko

2017-09-04

Enhanced direct-gap light emission is reported for Si-capped n + -Ge layers on Si after post-growth rapid cyclic annealing (RCA), and impact of non-radiative recombination (NRR) at the Ge/Si interface is discussed toward Ge/Si double heterostructure (DH) lasers. P-doped n + -Ge layer (1 × 10 19 cm -3 , 400 nm) is grown on Si by ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition, followed by a growth of Si capping layer (5 nm) to form a Si/Ge/Si DH structure. Post-growth RCA to eliminate defects in Ge is performed in N 2 at temperatures between 900°C and 780°C, where the annealing time is minimized to be 5 s in each RCA cycle to prevent an out-diffusion of P dopants from the Ge surface. Direct-gap photoluminescence (PL) intensity at 1.6 µm increases with the RCA cycles up to 40, although the threading dislocation density in Ge is not reduced after 3 cycles in the present condition. The PL enhancement is ascribed to the suppression of NRR at the Ge/Si interface, where an intermixed SiGe alloy is formed. For Ge/Si DH lasers, NRR at the Ge/Si interface is found to have a significant impact on the threshold current density Jth. In order to achieve Jth on the order of 1 kA/cm 2 , similar to III-V lasers, the interface recombination velocity S is required below 10 3 cm/s in spite of S as large as 10 5 cm/s at the ordinary defect-rich Ge/Si interface.

Research on a Micro-Nano Si/SiGe/Si Double Heterojunction Electro-Optic Modulation Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Feng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The electro-optic modulator is a very important device in silicon photonics, which is responsible for the conversion of optical signals and electrical signals. For the electro-optic modulator, the carrier density of waveguide region is one of the key parameters. The traditional method of increasing carrier density is to increase the external modulation voltage, but this way will increase the modulation loss and also is not conducive to photonics integration. This paper presents a micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction electro-optic modulation structure. Based on the band theory of single heterojunction, the barrier heights are quantitatively calculated, and the carrier concentrations of heterojunction barrier are analyzed. The band and carrier injection characteristics of the double heterostructure structure are simulated, respectively, and the correctness of the theoretical analysis is demonstrated. The micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction electro-optic modulation is designed and tested, and comparison of testing results between the micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction micro-ring electro-optic modulation and the micro-nano Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI micro-ring electro-optic modulation, Free Spectrum Range, 3 dB Bandwidth, Q value, extinction ratio, and other parameters of the micro-nano Si/SiGe/Si double heterojunction micro-ring electro-optic modulation are better than others, and the modulation voltage and the modulation loss are lower.

Mobility-limiting mechanisms in single and dual channel strained Si/SiGe MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, S.H.; Dobrosz, P.; Escobedo-Cousin, E.; Bull, S.J.; O'Neill, A.G.

2005-01-01

Dual channel strained Si/SiGe CMOS architectures currently receive great attention due to maximum performance benefits being predicted for both n- and p-channel MOSFETs. Epitaxial growth of a compressively strained SiGe layer followed by tensile strained Si can create a high mobility buried hole channel and a high mobility surface electron channel on a single relaxed SiGe virtual substrate. However, dual channel n-MOSFETs fabricated using a high thermal budget exhibit compromised mobility enhancements compared with single channel devices, in which both electron and hole channels form in strained Si. This paper investigates the mobility-limiting mechanisms of dual channel structures. The first evidence of increased interface roughness due to the introduction of compressively strained SiGe below the tensile strained Si channel is presented. Interface corrugations degrade electron mobility in the strained Si. Roughness measurements have been carried out using AFM and TEM. Filtering AFM images allowed roughness at wavelengths pertinent to carrier transport to be studied and the results are in agreement with electrical data. Furthermore, the first comparison of strain measurements in the surface channels of single and dual channel architectures is presented. Raman spectroscopy has been used to study channel strain both before and after processing and indicates that there is no impact of the buried SiGe layer on surface macrostrain. The results provide further evidence that the improved performance of the single channel devices fabricated using a high thermal budget arises from improved surface roughness and reduced Ge diffusion into the Si channel

Photoreflectance Spectroscopy Characterization of Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 Multiple Quantum Wells on Ge Virtual Substrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung-Pin Hsu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We report a detailed characterization of a Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 multiple quantum well (MQW structure on Ge-on-Si virtual substrate (VS grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition by using temperature-dependent photoreflectance (PR in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K. The PR spectra revealed a wide range of optical transitions from the MQW region as well as transitions corresponding to the light-hole and heavy-hole splitting energies of Ge-on-Si VS. A detailed comparison of PR spectral line shape fits and theoretical calculation led to the identification of various quantum-confined interband transitions. The temperature-dependent PR spectra of Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 MQW were analyzed using Varshni and Bose-Einstein expressions. The parameters that describe the temperature variations of various quantum-confined interband transition energies were evaluated and discussed.

Growth dynamics of SiGe nanowires by the Vapour Liquid Solid method and its impact on SiGe/Si axial heterojunction abruptness.

Science.gov (United States)

Pura, Jose Luis; Periwal, Priyanka; Baron, Thierry; Jimenez, Juan

2018-06-05

The Vapour Liquid Solid (VLS) method is by far the most extended procedure for bottom-up nanowire growth. This method also allows for the manufacture of nanowire axial heterojunctions in a straightforward way. To do this, during the growth process the precursor gases are switched on/off to obtain the desired change in the nanowire composition. Using this technique axially heterostructured nanowires can be grown, which are crucial for the fabrication of electronic and optoelectronic devices. SiGe/Si nanowires are compatible with Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) technology, this improves their versatility and the possibility of integration with the current electronic technologies. Abrupt heterointerfaces are fundamental for the development and correct operation of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Unfortunately, VLS growth of SiGe/Si heterojunctions does not provide abrupt transitions because of the high solubility of group IV semiconductors in Au, with the corresponding reservoir effect that precludes the growth of sharp interfaces. In this work, we studied the growth dynamics of SiGe/Si heterojunctions based on already developed models for VLS growth. A composition map of the Si-Ge-Au liquid alloy is proposed to better understand the impact of the growing conditions on the nanowire growth process and the heterojunction formation. The solution of our model provides heterojunction profiles in good agreement with experimental measurements. Finally, the in-depth study of the composition map provides a practical approach to reduce drastically the heterojunction abruptness by reducing the Si and Ge concentrations in the catalyst droplet. This converges with previous approaches that use catalysts aiming to reduce the solubility of the atomic species. This analysis opens new paths to reduce the heterojunction abruptness using Au catalysts, but the model can be naturally extended to other catalysts and semiconductors. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

Photoreflectance Spectroscopy Characterization of Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 Multiple Quantum Wells on Ge Virtual Substrate

OpenAIRE

Hsu, Hung-Pin; Yang, Pong-Hong; Huang, Jeng-Kuang; Wu, Po-Hung; Huang, Ying-Sheng; Li, Cheng; Huang, Shi-Hao; Tiong, Kwong-Kau

2013-01-01

We report a detailed characterization of a Ge/Si0.16Ge0.84 multiple quantum well (MQW) structure on Ge-on-Si virtual substrate (VS) grown by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition by using temperature-dependent photoreflectance (PR) in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K. The PR spectra revealed a wide range of optical transitions from the MQW region as well as transitions corresponding to the light-hole and heavy-hole splitting energies of Ge-on-Si VS. A detailed comparison of PR spec...

Remote plasma enhanced chemical deposition of non-crystalline GeO2 on Ge and Si substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucovsky, Gerald; Zeller, Daniel

2011-09-01

Non-crystalline GeO2 films remote were plasma deposited at 300 degrees C onto Ge substrates after a final rinse in NH4OH. The reactant precursors gas were: (i) down-stream injected 2% GeH4 in He as the Ge precursor, and (ii) up-stream, plasma excited O2-He mixtures as the O precursor. Films annealed at 400 degrees C displayed no evidence for loss of O resulting in Ge sub-oxide formation, and for a 5-6 eV mid-gap absorption associated with formation of GeOx suboxide bonding, x deposited on Ge and annealed at 600 degrees C and 700 degrees C display spectra indicative of loss of O-atoms, accompanied with a 5.5 eV absorption. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and many-electron theory are combined to describe symmetries and degeneracies for O-vacancy bonding defects. These include comparisons with remote plasma-deposited non-crystalline SiO2 on Si substrates with SiON interfacial layers. Three different properties of remote plasma GeO2 films are addressed comparisons between (i) conduction band and band edge states of GeO2 and SiO2, and (ii) electronic structure of O-atom vacancy defects in GeO2 and SiO2, and differences between (iii) annealing of GeO2 films on Ge substrates, and Si substrates passivated with SiON interfacial transition regions important for device applications.

Water-vapor-enhanced growth of Ge-GeOx core-shell nanowires and Si1-xGexOy nanowires

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, T-J; Ko, C-Y; Lin, W-T

2007-01-01

The effects of moist Ar on the growth of Ge-GeO x core-shell nanowires (Ge-GeO x NWs) and Si 1-x Ge x O y nanowires (SiGeONWs) on Si substrates without adding a metal catalyst via the carbothermal reduction of GeO 2 powders at 1100 deg. C were studied. No significant nanowires were grown in dry Ar at a flow rate of 100-300 sccm until a bit of water in the range of 0.5-2 ml was loaded into the furnace. More water suppressed the growth of nanowires because of the exhaustion of more graphite powder. The growth of Ge-GeO x NWs and SiGeONWs follows the vapor-solid and vapor-liquid-solid processes, respectively. The present study showed that the water vapor serves as an oxidizer as well as a reducer at 1100 deg. C in enhancing the growth of SiGeONWs and Ge-GeO x NWs, respectively. The growth mechanisms of Ge-GeO x NWs and SiGeONWs are also discussed

Annealing-induced Ge/Si(100) island evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yangting; Drucker, Jeff

2003-01-01

Ge/Si(100) islands were found to coarsen during in situ annealing at growth temperature. Islands were grown by molecular-beam epitaxy of pure Ge and annealed at substrate temperatures of T=450, 550, 600, and 650 deg. C, with Ge coverages of 6.5, 8.0, and 9.5 monolayers. Three coarsening mechanisms operate in this temperature range: wetting-layer consumption, conventional Ostwald ripening, and Si interdiffusion. For samples grown and annealed at T=450 deg. C, consumption of a metastably thick wetting layer causes rapid initial coarsening. Slower coarsening at longer annealing times occurs by conventional Ostwald ripening. Coarsening of samples grown and annealed at T=550 deg. C occurs via a combination of Si interdiffusion and conventional Ostwald ripening. For samples grown and annealed at T≥600 deg. C, Ostwald ripening of SiGe alloy clusters appears to be the dominant coarsening mechanism

Modified Stranski-Krastanov growth in Ge/Si heterostructures via nanostenciled pulsed laser deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

MacLeod, J M; Cojocaru, C V; Ratto, F; Harnagea, C; Bernardi, A; Alonso, M I; Rosei, F

2012-02-17

The combination of nanostenciling with pulsed laser deposition (PLD) provides a flexible, fast approach for patterning the growth of Ge on Si. Within each stencilled site, the morphological evolution of the Ge structures with deposition follows a modified Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode. By systematically varying the PLD parameters (laser repetition rate and number of pulses) on two different substrate orientations (111 and 100), we have observed corresponding changes in growth morphology, strain and elemental composition using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and μ-Raman spectroscopy. The growth behaviour is well predicted within a classical SK scheme, although the Si(100) growth exhibits significant relaxation and ripening with increasing coverage. Other novel aspects of the growth include the increased thickness of the wetting layer and the kinetic control of Si/Ge intermixing via the PLD repetition rate.

Properties of Si{sub n}, Ge{sub n}, and Si{sub n}Ge{sub n} clusters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, Yi; Rehman, Habib ur; Springborg, Michael [Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Saarland, 66123 Saarbrücken (Germany)

2015-01-22

The structures of Si{sub n}, Ge{sub n}, and Si{sub n}Ge{sub n} clusters with up to 44 atoms have been determined theoretically using an unbiased structure-optimization method in combination with a parametrized, density-functional description of the total energy for a given structure. By analyzing the total energy in detail, particularly stable clusters are identified. Moreover, general trends in the structures are identified with the help of specifically constructed descriptors.

Ordered GeSi nanorings grown on patterned Si (001 substrates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Yingjie

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract An easy approach to fabricate ordered pattern using nanosphere lithography and reactive iron etching technology was demonstrated. Long-range ordered GeSi nanorings with 430 nm period were grown on patterned Si (001 substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The size and shape of rings were closely associated with the size of capped GeSi quantum dots and the Si capping processes. Statistical analysis on the lateral size distribution shows that the high growth temperature and the long-term annealing can improve the uniformity of nanorings. PACS code1·PACS code2·more Mathematics Subject Classification (2000 MSC code1·MSC code2·more

Oblique roughness replication in strained SiGe/Si multilayers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holy, V.; Darhuber, A.A.; Stangl, J.; Bauer, G.; Nützel, J.-F.; Abstreiter, G.

1998-01-01

The replication of the interface roughness in SiGe/Si multilayers grown on miscut Si(001) substrates has been studied by means of x-ray reflectivity reciprocal space mapping. The interface profiles were found to be highly correlated and the direction of the maximal replication was inclined with

Shell morphology and Raman spectra of epitaxial Ge-SixGe1-x and Si-SixGe1-x core-shell nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Feng; Dillen, David C.; Kim, Kyounghwan; Tutuc, Emanuel

2017-06-01

We investigate the shell morphology and Raman spectra of epitaxial Ge-SixGe1-x and Si-SixGe1-x core-shell nanowire heterostructures grown using a combination of a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth mechanism for the core, followed by in-situ epitaxial shell growth using ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy reveals that the VLS growth yields cylindrical Ge, and Si nanowire cores grown along the ⟨111⟩, and ⟨110⟩ or ⟨112⟩ directions, respectively. A hexagonal cross-sectional morphology is observed for Ge-SixGe1-x core-shell nanowires terminated by six {112} facets. Two distinct morphologies are observed for Si-SixGe1-x core-shell nanowires that are either terminated by four {111} and two {100} planes associated with the ⟨110⟩ growth direction or four {113} and two {111} planes associated with the ⟨112⟩ growth direction. We show that the Raman spectra of Si- SixGe1-x are correlated with the shell morphology thanks to epitaxial growth-induced strain, with the core Si-Si mode showing a larger red shift in ⟨112⟩ core-shell nanowires compared to their ⟨110⟩ counterparts. We compare the Si-Si Raman mode value with calculations based on a continuum elasticity model coupled with the lattice dynamic theory.

Role of the SiO2 buffer layer thickness in the formation of Si/SiO2/nc-Ge/SiO2 structures by dry oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kling, A.; Ortiz, M.I.; Prieto, A.C.; Rodriguez, A.; Rodriguez, T.; Jimenez, J.; Ballesteros, C.; Soares, J.C.

2006-01-01

Nanomemories, containing Ge-nanoparticles in a SiO 2 matrix, can be produced by dry thermal oxidation of a SiGe layer deposited onto a Si-wafer with a barrier SiO 2 layer on its top. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry has been used to characterize the kinetics of the oxidation process, the composition profile of the growing oxide, the Ge-segregation and its diffusion into the barrier oxide in samples with thin and thick barrier oxide layers. The Ge segregated during the oxidation of the SiGe layer diffuses into the barrier oxide. In the first case the diffusion through the thin oxide is enhanced by the proximity of the substrate that acts as a sink for the Ge, resulting in the formation of a low Ge concentration SiGe layer in the surface of the Si-wafer. In the second case, the Ge-diffusion progresses as slowly as in bulk SiO 2 . Since barrier oxide layers as thin as possible are favoured for device fabrication, the structures should be oxidized at lower temperatures and the initial SiGe layer thickness reduced to minimize the Ge-diffusion

Raman and photoluminescence spectroscopy of SiGe layer evolution on Si(100) induced by dewetting

Science.gov (United States)

Shklyaev, A. A.; Volodin, V. A.; Stoffel, M.; Rinnert, H.; Vergnat, M.

2018-01-01

High temperature annealing of thick (40-100 nm) Ge layers deposited on Si(100) at ˜400 °C leads to the formation of continuous films prior to their transformation into porous-like films due to dewetting. The evolution of Si-Ge composition, lattice strain, and surface morphology caused by dewetting is analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, Raman, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopies. The Raman data reveal that the transformation from the continuous to porous film proceeds through strong Si-Ge interdiffusion, reducing the Ge content from 60% to about 20%, and changing the stress from compressive to tensile. We expect that Ge atoms migrate into the Si substrate occupying interstitial sites and providing thereby the compensation of the lattice mismatch. Annealing generates only one type of radiative recombination centers in SiGe resulting in a PL peak located at about 0.7 and 0.8 eV for continuous and porous film areas, respectively. Since annealing leads to the propagation of threading dislocations through the SiGe/Si interface, we can tentatively associate the observed PL peak to the well-known dislocation-related D1 band.

Coupling between Ge-nanocrystals and defects in SiO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skov Jensen, J.; Franzo, G.; Leervad Petersen, T.P.; Pereira, R.; Chevallier, J.; Christian Petersen, M.; Bech Nielsen, B.; Nylandsted Larsen, A.

2006-01-01

Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) at around 600 nm from magnetron-sputtered SiO 2 films co-doped with Ge is reported. The PL signal is observed in pure SiO 2 , however, its intensity increases significantly in the presence of Ge-nanocrystals (Ge-nc). The PL intensity has been optimized by varying the temperature of heat treatment, type of gas during heat treatment, concentration of Ge in the SiO 2 films, and gas pressure during deposition. Maximum intensity occurs when Ge-nc of around 3.5 nm are present in large concentration in SiO 2 layers deposited at fairly high gas pressure. Based on time resolved PL, and PL measurements after α-particle irradiation or H passivation, we attribute the origin of the PL to a defect in SiO 2 (probably an O deficiency) that is excited through an energy transfer from Ge-nc. There is no direct PL from the Ge-nc; however, there is a strong coupling between excitons created in the Ge-nc and the SiO 2 defect

Axial Ge/Si nanowire heterostructure tunnel FETs.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dayeh, Shadi A. (Los Alamos National Laboratory); Gin, Aaron V.; Huang, Jian Yu; Picraux, Samuel Thomas (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

2010-03-01

Axial Ge/Si heterostructure nanowires (NWs) allow energy band-edge engineering along the axis of the NW, which is the charge transport direction, and the realization of asymmetric devices for novel device architectures. This work reports on two significant advances in the area of heterostructure NWs and tunnel FETs: (i) the realization of 100% compositionally modulated Si/Ge axial heterostructure NWs with lengths suitable for device fabrication and (ii) the design and implementation of Schottky barrier tunnel FETs on these NWs for high-on currents and suppressed ambipolar behavior. Initial prototype devices with 10 nm PECVD SiN{sub x} gate dielectric resulted in a very high current drive in excess of 100 {micro}A/{micro}m (I/{pi}D) and 10{sup 5} I{sub on}/I{sub off} ratios. Prior work on the synthesis of Ge/Si axial NW heterostructures through the VLS mechanism have resulted in axial Si/Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} NW heterostructures with x{sub max} {approx} 0.3, and more recently 100% composition modulation was achieved with a solid growth catalyst. In this latter case, the thickness of the heterostructure cannot exceed few atomic layers due to the slow axial growth rate and concurrent radial deposition on the NW sidewalls leading to a mixture of axial and radial deposition, which imposes a big challenge for fabricating useful devices form these NWs in the near future. Here, we report the VLS growth of 100% doping and composition modulated axial Ge/Si heterostructure NWs with lengths appropriate for device fabrication by devising a growth procedure that eliminates Au diffusion on the NW sidewalls and minimizes random kinking in the heterostructure NWs as deduced from detailed microscopy analysis. Fig. 1 a shows a cross-sectional SEM image of epitaxial Ge/Si axial NW heterostructures grown on a Ge(111) surface. The interface abruptness in these Ge/Si heterostructure NWs is of the order of the NW diameter. Some of these NWs develop a crystallographic kink that is {approx

Ultra-low Thermal Conductivity in Si/Ge Hierarchical Superlattice Nanowire.

Science.gov (United States)

Mu, Xin; Wang, Lili; Yang, Xueming; Zhang, Pu; To, Albert C; Luo, Tengfei

2015-11-16

Due to interfacial phonon scattering and nanoscale size effect, silicon/germanium (Si/Ge) superlattice nanowire (SNW) can have very low thermal conductivity, which is very attractive for thermoelectrics. In this paper, we demonstrate using molecular dynamics simulations that the already low thermal conductivity of Si/Ge SNW can be further reduced by introducing hierarchical structure to form Si/Ge hierarchical superlattice nanowire (H-SNW). The structural hierarchy introduces defects to disrupt the periodicity of regular SNW and scatters coherent phonons, which are the key contributors to thermal transport in regular SNW. Our simulation results show that periodically arranged defects in Si/Ge H-SNW lead to a ~38% reduction of the already low thermal conductivity of regular Si/Ge SNW. By randomizing the arrangement of defects and imposing additional surface complexities to enhance phonon scattering, further reduction in thermal conductivity can be achieved. Compared to pure Si nanowire, the thermal conductivity reduction of Si/Ge H-SNW can be as large as ~95%. It is concluded that the hierarchical structuring is an effective way of reducing thermal conductivity significantly in SNW, which can be a promising path for improving the efficiency of Si/Ge-based SNW thermoelectrics.

Low thermal budget surface preparation of Si and SiGe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbadie, A.; Hartmann, J.M.; Holliger, P.; Semeria, M.N.; Besson, P.; Gentile, P.

2004-01-01

Using a two-step cleaning, we have investigated the low thermal budget surface preparation of Si and Si 1-x Ge x (x=0.2-0.33). It consists of an ex situ 'HF-last' wet-cleaning and an in situ low thermal budget H 2 bake in a reduced pressure-chemical vapor deposition reactor. Using secondary ion mass spectrometry, we have evaluated the effects of different H 2 bake temperatures (in between 750 and 850 deg. C for 2 min) on the removal efficiency of C, O and F atoms still present on the surface of Si and SiGe virtual substrates after the 'HF-last' wet-cleaning. We have then examined the impact of the (wet-cleaning+H 2 bake) combination on the surface cross-hatch of SiGe as-grown virtual substrates, focusing on the analysis, notably by atomic force microscopy, of the surface topography before and after the miscellaneous thermal treatments. In situ hydrogen baking steps in between 775 and 850 deg. C do not modify the surface morphology and roughness. An easy and rapid optical characterization method, i.e. the optical interferometry, is presented as well to monitor in line the morphological changes induced by such processing steps as chemical mechanical polishing, wet-cleaning, H 2 bake, etc. Despite the lower resolution of the optical profilometer, the surface roughness values coming from it have been correctly correlated with those obtained from AFM. An optimized 'HF-last' wet-cleaning using a diluted chemistry in conjunction with a H 2 bake at 800 deg. C for 2 min (775 deg. C, 2') is a good compromise for SiGe (Si) surface preparation

Epitaxial Fe3Si/Ge/Fe3Si thin film multilayers grown on GaAs(001)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jenichen, B.; Herfort, J.; Jahn, U.; Trampert, A.; Riechert, H.

2014-01-01

We demonstrate Fe 3 Si/Ge/Fe 3 Si/GaAs(001) structures grown by molecular-beam epitaxy and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, and X-ray diffraction. The bottom Fe 3 Si epitaxial film on GaAs is always single crystalline. The structural properties of the Ge film and the top Fe 3 Si layer depend on the substrate temperature during Ge deposition. Different orientation distributions of the grains in the Ge and the upper Fe 3 Si film were found. The low substrate temperature T s of 150 °C during Ge deposition ensures sharp interfaces, however, results in predominantly amorphous films. We find that the intermediate T s (225 °C) leads to a largely [111] oriented upper Fe 3 Si layer and polycrystal films. The high T s of 325 °C stabilizes the [001] oriented epitaxial layer structure, i.e., delivers smooth interfaces and single crystal films over as much as 80% of the surface area. - Highlights: • Fe 3 Si/Ge/Fe 3 Si/GaAs(001) structures are grown by MBE. • The bottom Fe 3 Si film is always single crystalline. • The properties of the Ge film depend on the substrate temperature during deposition. • Optimum growth conditions lead to almost perfect epitaxy of Ge on Fe 3 Si

Effect of Si/Ge ratio on resistivity and thermopower in Gd{sub 5}Si{sub x}Ge{sub 4-x} magnetocaloric compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raj Kumar, D.M. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Manivel Raja, M., E-mail: mraja@dmrl.drdo.i [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Prabahar, K.; Chandrasekaran, V. [Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Kanchanbagh, Hyderabad 500058 (India); Poddar, Asok; Ranganathan, R. [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700064 (India); Suresh, K.G. [Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076 (India)

2011-07-15

The effect of Si/Ge ratio on resistivity and thermopower behavior has been investigated in the magnetocaloric ferromagnetic Gd{sub 5}Si{sub x}Ge{sub 4-x} compounds with x=1.7-2.3. Microstructural studies reveal the presence of Gd{sub 5}(Si,Ge){sub 4}-matrix phase (5:4-type) along with traces of secondary phases (5:5 or 5:3-type). The x=1.7 and 2.0 samples display the presence of a first order structural transition from orthorhombic to monoclinic phase followed by a magnetic transition of the monoclinic phase. The alloys with x=2.2 and 2.3 display only magnetic transitions of the orthorhombic phase. A low temperature feature apparent in the AC susceptibility and resistivity data below 100 K reflects an antiferromagnetic transition of secondary phase(s) present in these compounds. The resistivity behavior study correlates with microstructural studies. A large change in thermopower of -8 {mu}V/K was obtained at the magneto-structural transition for the x=2 compound. - Research highlights: Effect of Si/Ge ratio on microstructure, magneto-structural transitions, resistivity ({rho}) and thermopower S(T) behaviour has been investigated in Gd{sub 5}Si{sub x}Ge{sub 4-x} compounds with x=1.7, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.3. Microstructural studies reveal the presence of a Gd{sub 5}(Si,Ge){sub 4} -matrix phase (5:4-type) along with traces of secondary phases (5:5 or 5:3-type). The resistivity behaviour has shown good correlation with the microstructural studies. A large change in thermopower of -8{mu}V/K was obtained at the magneto-structural transition for the x=2 compound. The resistivity and change in thermopower values were high for the alloys with Si/Ge ratio {<=}1 compared to that of the alloys with Si/Ge ratio >1.

Vertical epitaxial wire-on-wire growth of Ge/Si on Si(100) substrate.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Tomohiro; Zhang, Zhang; Shingubara, Shoso; Senz, Stephan; Gösele, Ulrich

2009-04-01

Vertically aligned epitaxial Ge/Si heterostructure nanowire arrays on Si(100) substrates were prepared by a two-step chemical vapor deposition method in anodic aluminum oxide templates. n-Butylgermane vapor was employed as new safer precursor for Ge nanowire growth instead of germane. First a Si nanowire was grown by the vapor liquid solid growth mechanism using Au as catalyst and silane. The second step was the growth of Ge nanowires on top of the Si nanowires. The method presented will allow preparing epitaxially grown vertical heterostructure nanowires consisting of multiple materials on an arbitrary substrate avoiding undesired lateral growth.

Recent progress in GeSi electro-absorption modulators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaisakul, Papichaya; Marris-Morini, Delphine; Rouifed, Mohamed-Said; Coudevylle, Jean-René; Roux, Xavier Le; Edmond, Samson; Vivien, Laurent; Frigerio, Jacopo; Chrastina, Daniel; Isella, Giovanni

2014-01-01

Electro-absorption from GeSi heterostructures is receiving growing attention as a high performance optical modulator for short distance optical interconnects. Ge incorporation with Si allows strong modulation mechanism using the Franz–Keldysh effect and the quantum-confined Stark effect from bulk and quantum well structures at telecommunication wavelengths. In this review, we discuss the current state of knowledge and the on-going challenges concerning the development of high performance GeSi electro-absorption modulators. We also provide feasible future prospects concerning this research topic. (review)

Secondary growth mechanism of SiGe islands deposited on a mixed-phase microcrystalline Si by ion beam co-sputtering.

Science.gov (United States)

Ke, S Y; Yang, J; Qiu, F; Wang, Z Q; Wang, C; Yang, Y

2015-11-06

We discuss the SiGe island co-sputtering deposition on a microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si) buffer layer and the secondary island growth based on this pre-SiGe island layer. The growth phenomenon of SiGe islands on crystalline silicon (c-Si) is also investigated for comparison. The pre-SiGe layer grown on μc-Si exhibits a mixed-phase structure, including SiGe islands and amorphous SiGe (a-SiGe) alloy, while the layer deposited on c-Si shows a single-phase island structure. The preferential growth and Ostwald ripening growth are shown to be the secondary growth mechanism of SiGe islands on μc-Si and c-Si, respectively. This difference may result from the effect of amorphous phase Si (AP-Si) in μc-Si on the island growth. In addition, the Si-Ge intermixing behavior of the secondary-grown islands on μc-Si is interpreted by constructing the model of lateral atomic migration, while this behavior on c-Si is ascribed to traditional uphill atomic diffusion. It is found that the aspect ratios of the preferential-grown super islands are higher than those of the Ostwald-ripening ones. The lower lateral growth rate of super islands due to the lower surface energy of AP-Si on the μc-Si buffer layer for the non-wetting of Ge at 700 °C and the stronger Si-Ge intermixing effect at 730 °C may be responsible for this aspect ratio difference.

High-speed Si/GeSi hetero-structure Electro Absorption Modulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Mastronardi, L; Banakar, M; Khokhar, A Z; Hattasan, N; Rutirawut, T; Bucio, T Domínguez; Grabska, K M; Littlejohns, C; Bazin, A; Mashanovich, G; Gardes, F Y

2018-03-19

The ever-increasing demand for integrated, low power interconnect systems is pushing the bandwidth density of CMOS photonic devices. Taking advantage of the strong Franz-Keldysh effect in the C and L communication bands, electro-absorption modulators in Ge and GeSi are setting a new standard in terms of device footprint and power consumption for next generation photonics interconnect arrays. In this paper, we present a compact, low power electro-absorption modulator (EAM) Si/GeSi hetero-structure based on an 800 nm SOI overlayer with a modulation bandwidth of 56 GHz. The device design and fabrication tolerant process are presented, followed by the measurement analysis. Eye diagram measurements show a dynamic ER of 5.2 dB at a data rate of 56 Gb/s at 1566 nm, and calculated modulator power is 44 fJ/bit.

Influence of Si and Ge on the magnetic phase transition and magnetocaloric properties of MnFe(P, Si, Ge)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cam Thanh, D.T.; Brueck, E.; Tegus, O.; Klaasse, J.C.P.; Buschow, K.H.J.

2007-01-01

Recently, we found a large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and favourable magnetic properties in low cost and nontoxic MnFe(P, Si, Ge) compounds [D.T. Cam Thanh, E. Brueck, O. Tegus, J.C.P. Klaasse, T.J. Gortenmulder, K.H.J. Buschow, J. Appl. Phys. 99 (2006) 08Q107]. These compounds are promising for magnetic refrigeration applications. One of the interesting points in these compounds is a nonlinear dependence of the Curie temperature (T C ) on Si concentration. This dependence is associated with the change in the lattice parameters a and c, and their ratio c/a. Compounds with larger a parameter and smaller c/a ratio have higher T C . It is clear that Si and Ge atoms play an important role in the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in the MnFe(P, Si, Ge) compounds. In this paper, we study the effect of Si and Ge on the magnetic phase transition in these materials. Our study shows that the temperature of the phase transition, from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic, can be tuned in the room temperature range without losing giant magnetocaloric properties

Quantitative SIMS analysis of SiGe composition with low energy O2+ beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Z.X.; Kim, K.; Lerma, J.; Corbett, A.; Sieloff, D.; Kottke, M.; Gregory, R.; Schauer, S.

2006-01-01

This work explored quantitative analyses of SiGe films on either Si bulk or SOI wafers with low energy SIMS by assuming a constant ratio between the secondary ion yields of Si + and Ge + inside SiGe films. SiGe samples with Ge contents ranging from 15 to 65% have been analyzed with a 1 keV O 2 + beam at normal incidence. For comparison, the samples were also analyzed with RBS and/or AES. The Ge content as measured with SIMS, based on a single SiGe/Si or SiGe/SOI standard, exhibited good agreement with the corresponding RBS and AES data. It was concluded that SIMS was capable of providing accurate characterization of the SiGe composition with the Ge content up to 65%

A Passive X-Band Double Balanced Mixer Utilizing Diode Connected SiGe HBTs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michaelsen, Rasmus Schandorph; Johansen, Tom Keinicke; Tamborg, Kjeld

2013-01-01

In this paper, a passive double balanced mixer in SiGe HBT technology is presented. Due to lack of suitable passive mixing elements in the technology, the mixing elements are formed by diode connected HBTs. The mixer is optimized for use in doppler radars and is highly linear with 1 dB compressio...

Magnetism in Mn-nanowires and -clusters as δ-doped layers in group IV semiconductors (Si, Ge)

Science.gov (United States)

Simov, K. R.; Glans, P.-A.; Jenkins, C. A.; Liberati, M.; Reinke, P.

2018-01-01

Mn doping of group-IV semiconductors (Si/Ge) is achieved by embedding nanostructured Mn-layers in group-IV matrix. The Mn-nanostructures are monoatomic Mn-wires or Mn-clusters and capped with an amorphous Si or Ge layer. The precise fabrication of δ-doped Mn-layers is combined with element-specific detection of the magnetic signature with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The largest moment (2.5 μB/Mn) is measured for Mn-wires with ionic bonding character and a-Ge overlayer cap; a-Si capping reduces the moment due to variations of bonding in agreement with theoretical predictions. The moments in δ-doped layers dominated by clusters is quenched with an antiferromagnetic component from Mn-Mn bonding.

Structural stability, electronic and magnetic behaviour of spin-polarized YCoVZ (Z = Si, Ge) and YCoTiZ (Z = Si, Ge) Heusler alloys

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasool, Muhammad Nasir, E-mail: nasir4iub@gmail.com [Department of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100 (Pakistan); Hussain, Altaf, E-mail: altafiub@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100 (Pakistan); Javed, Athar [Department of Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, 54590 (Pakistan); Khan, Muhammad Azhar; Iqbal, F. [Department of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100 (Pakistan)

2016-11-01

The structural stability, electronic and magnetic behaviour of YCoVZ (Z = Si, Ge) and YCoTiZ (Z = Si, Ge) Heusler alloys have been studied by first principle approach. Generalized gradient approximation (GGA) based on density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to investigate the properties of quaternary Heusler alloys. The YCoVSi, YCoVGe, YCoTiSi and YCoTiGe Heusler alloys of Type-3 structure are found to be stable in spin-polarized/magnetic phase. The YCoVSi and YCoVGe alloys exhibit nearly spin gapless semiconductor (SGS) behaviour while YCoTiSi and YCoTiGe alloys show half-metallic ferromagnetic (HMF) behaviour. For YCoVSi, YCoVGe, YCoTiSi and YCoTiGe alloys, the calculated energy band gaps in spin down (↓) channel are 0.60, 0.54, 0.68 and 0.44 eV, respectively. The YCoVZ and YCoTiZ alloys are found to have integral value of total magnetic moment (M{sub T}), thus obeying the Slater-Pauling rule, M{sub T} = (N{sub v}–18)μ{sub B}. - Highlights: • Four Heusler alloys i.e. YCoVZ (Z = Si, Ge) and YCoTiZ (Z = Si, Ge) are studied. • Type-3 crystal structure of all four alloys is stable in magnetic phase. • The compressibility (S) follows the order: S{sub YCoVSi} > S{sub YCoTiSi} > S{sub YCoVGe} > S{sub YCoTiGe}. • Half metallic ferromagnetic behaviour is observed in all four alloys. • All four alloys obey the Slater-Pauling rule, M{sub T} = (N{sub v} – 18)μ{sub B}.

Effect of Ge atoms on crystal structure and optoelectronic properties of hydrogenated Si-Ge films

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Tianwei; Zhang, Jianjun; Ma, Ying; Yu, Yunwu; Zhao, Ying

2017-07-01

Optoelectronic and structural properties of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon-germanium (μc-Si1-xGex:H) alloys prepared by radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) were investigated. When the Ge atoms were predominantly incorporated in amorphous matrix, the dark and photo-conductivity decreased due to the reduced crystalline volume fraction of the Si atoms (XSi-Si) and the increased Ge dangling bond density. The photosensitivity decreased monotonously with Ge incorporation under higher hydrogen dilution condition, which was attributed to the increase in both crystallization of Ge and the defect density.

Interface Engineering for Atomic Layer Deposited Alumina Gate Dielectric on SiGe Substrates.

OpenAIRE

Zhang, L; Guo, Y; Hassan, VV; Tang, K; Foad, MA; Woicik, JC; Pianetta, P; Robertson, John; McIntyre, PC

2016-01-01

Optimization of the interface between high-k dielectrics and SiGe substrates is a challenging topic due to the complexity arising from the coexistence of Si and Ge interfacial oxides. Defective high-k/SiGe interfaces limit future applications of SiGe as a channel material for electronic devices. In this paper, we identify the surface layer structure of as-received SiGe and Al2O3/SiGe structures based on soft and hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. As-received SiGe substrates have native Si...

Selective epitaxial growth properties and strain characterization of Si1- x Ge x in SiO2 trench arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Sangmo; Jang, Hyunchul; Ko, Dae-Hong

2017-04-01

In this study, we investigated the formation of a Si1- x Ge x fin structure in SiO2 trench arrays via an ultra-high-vacuum chemical-vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) selective epitaxial growth (SEG) process. Defect generation and microstructures of Si1- x Ge x fin structures with different Ge concentrations ( x = 0.2, 0.3 and 0.45) were examined. In addition, the strain evolution of a Si1- x Ge x fin structure was analyzed by using reciprocal space mapping (RSM). An (111) facet was formed from the Si1- x Ge x epi-layer and SiO2 trench wall interface to minimize the interface and the surface energy. The Si1- x Ge x fin structures were fully relaxed along the direction perpendicular to the trenches regardless of the Ge concentration. On the other hand, the fin structures were fully or partially strained along the direction parallel to the trenches depending on the Ge concentration: fully strained Si0.8Ge0.2 and Si0.7Ge0.3, and a Si0.55Ge0.45 strain-relaxed buffer. We further confirmed that the strain on the Si1- x Ge x fin structures remained stable after oxide removal and H2/N2 post-annealing.

Silicon and Ge in the deep sea deduced from Si isotope and Ge measurements in giant glass sponges

Science.gov (United States)

Jochum, K. P.; Schuessler, J. A.; Haug, G. H.; Andreae, M. O.; Froelich, P. N.

2016-12-01

Biogenic silica, such as giant glass spicules of the deep-sea sponge Monorhaphis chuni, is an archive to monitor paleo-Si and -Ge in past seawater. Here we report on Si isotopes and Ge/Si ratios in up to 2.7 m long spicules using LA-(MC)-ICP-MS. Isotope ratios of Si are suitable proxies for Si concentrations in seawater, because Si isotope fractionation into biogenic silica is a function of seawater dissolved Si concentration. The δ30Si values for our specimens range from about - 0.5 ‰ to - 3.6 ‰ and are much lower than modern (>1000 m) seawater δ30Si of about 1.3 ‰. Interestingly, there is a systematic Si isotopic and Ge variation from the rim to the center of the cross sections, which we interpret as seawater paleo-Si and -Ge changes. The lifetime of the giant sponges appears to be between about 6 and 14 ka. These age estimates were obtained by comparing our analytical data with various paleo-markers of the glacial-interglacial termination. Thus, the entire Holocene and the end of the last glacial period are contained in the oldest giant spicules. The derived Si and Ge seawater concentrations are ca. 12 % higher and 20 % lower, respectively, during the late glacial than at present. Possible explanations for changing Si, Ge and Ge/Si during the deglaciation could be changes in riverine, glacial, and/or eolian deliveries of silica to the oceans and changes in marine sedimentary reverse weathering, which removes Ge into marine sediments during opal dissolution and diagenesis.

Hydrogen interaction kinetics of Ge dangling bonds at the Si0.25Ge0.75/SiO2 interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stesmans, A.; Nguyen Hoang, T.; Afanas'ev, V. V.

2014-01-01

The hydrogen interaction kinetics of the GeP b1 defect, previously identified by electron spin resonance (ESR) as an interfacial Ge dangling bond (DB) defect occurring in densities ∼7 × 10 12  cm −2 at the SiGe/SiO 2 interfaces of condensation grown (100)Si/a-SiO 2 /Ge 0.75 Si 0.25 /a-SiO 2 structures, has been studied as function of temperature. This has been carried out, both in the isothermal and isochronal mode, through defect monitoring by capacitance-voltage measurements in conjunction with ESR probing, where it has previously been demonstrated the defects to operate as negative charge traps. The work entails a full interaction cycle study, comprised of analysis of both defect passivation (pictured as GeP b1 -H formation) in molecular hydrogen (∼1 atm) and reactivation (GeP b1 -H dissociation) in vacuum. It is found that both processes can be suitably described separately by the generalized simple thermal (GST) model, embodying a first order interaction kinetics description based on the basic chemical reactions GeP b1  + H 2  → GeP b1 H + H and GeP b1 H → GeP b1  + H, which are found to be characterized by the average activation energies E f  = 1.44 ± 0.04 eV and E d  = 2.23 ± 0.04 eV, and attendant, assumedly Gaussian, spreads σE f  = 0.20 ± 0.02 eV and σE d  = 0.15 ± 0.02 eV, respectively. The substantial spreads refer to enhanced interfacial disorder. Combination of the separately inferred kinetic parameters for passivation and dissociation results in the unified realistic GST description that incorporates the simultaneous competing action of passivation and dissociation, and which is found to excellently account for the full cycle data. For process times t a  ∼ 35 min, it is found that even for the optimum treatment temperature ∼380 °C, only ∼60% of the GeP b1 system can be electrically silenced, still far remote from device grade level. This

Narrow photoluminescence peak from Ge(Si) islands embedded between tensile-strained Si layers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaleev, Mikhail; Novikov, Alexey; Baydakova, Nataliya; Yablonskiy, Artem; Drozdov, Yuriy; Lobanov, Dmitriy; Krasilnik, Zakhary [Institute for Physics of Microstructures, Russian Academy of Sciences, GSP-105, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation); Kuznetsov, Oleg [Physical-Technical Research Institute, Nizhny Novgorod State University, pr. Gagarina 23, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation)

2011-03-15

The influence of thickness of the strained Si layers, measurement temperature and optical pumping power on width of the photoluminescence line from Ge(Si) self-assembled nanoislands grown on relaxed SiGe/Si(001) buffer layers and embedded between tensile-stained Si layers was studied. This line appears due to the II-type optical transition between the holes localized in islands and the electrons confined in tensile-strained Si layers under and above the islands. The possibility of tuning the photoluminescence line width by changing the strained Si layer thicknesses under and above the islands is showed. The decrease of the photoluminescence line width from Ge(Si) islands down to values comparable with width of the PL line from InAs/GaAs quantum dots was achieved due to the quantum confinement of electrons in thin strained Si layers and taking into account of the higher diffusion-induced smearing of strained Si layer above the islands. (copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Local atomic structure and chemical order in amorphous SiGe:H and SiC:H alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pisarkiewicz, T.; Stapinski, T.

1994-01-01

The local structure and chemical ordering in amorphous hydrogenated silicon-germanium and silicon-carbon alloys were analyzed mainly with the help of extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, Raman scattering and electron diffraction. Ge-Ge and Ge-Si distances were found to be independent of concentration and the composition of the first coordination shell around Ge is consistent with a random mixing of the two species in a-Si 1-x Ge:H alloy. The first-coordination-shell average bond lengths for Si-Si and SiC in a-Si 1-x C x :H are also constant with concentration x and the comparison of the first coordination shell composition around Si with average concentration indicates that the alloys tends to be chemically ordered. The degree of crystallinity in microcrystalline Si films determined by EXAFS is in agreement with that obtained in Raman scattering analysis. (author). 16 refs, 5 figs

SiGe derivatization by spontaneous reduction of aryl diazonium salts

Science.gov (United States)

Girard, A.; Geneste, F.; Coulon, N.; Cardinaud, C.; Mohammed-Brahim, T.

2013-10-01

Germanium semiconductors have interesting properties for FET-based biosensor applications since they possess high surface roughness allowing the immobilization of a high amount of receptors on a small surface area. Since SiGe combined low cost of Si and intrinsic properties of Ge with high mobility carriers, we focused the study on this particularly interesting material. The comparison of the efficiency of a functionalization process involving the spontaneous reduction of diazonium salts is studied on Si(1 0 0), SiGe and Ge semiconductors. XPS analysis of the functionalized surfaces reveals the presence of a covalent grafted layer on all the substrates that was confirmed by AFM. Interestingly, the modified Ge derivatives have still higher surface roughness after derivatization. To support the estimated thickness by XPS, a step measurement of the organic layers is done by AFM or by profilometer technique after a O2 plasma etching of the functionalized layer. This original method is well-adapted to measure the thickness of thin organic films on rough substrates such as germanium. The analyses show a higher chemical grafting on SiGe substrates compared with Si and Ge semiconductors.

A promising routine to fabricate GeSi nanowires via self-assembly on miscut Si (001) substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Zhenyang; Gong, Hua; Ma, Yingjie; Fan, Yongliang; Jiang, Zuimin

2011-04-11

: Very small and compactly arranged GeSi nanowires could self-assembled on vicinal Si (001) substrates with ~8° off toward ⟨110⟩ during Ge deposition. The nanowires were all oriented along the miscut direction. The small ration of height over width of the nanowire indicated that the nanowires were bordered partly with {1 0 5} facets. These self-assembled small nanowires were remarkably influenced by the growth conditions and the miscut angle of substrates in comparison with large dome-like islands obtained after sufficient Ge deposition. These results proposed that the formation of the nanowire was energetically driven under growth kinetic assistance. Three-dimensionally self-assembled GeSi nanowires were first realized via multilayer Ge growth separated with Si spacers. These GeSi nanowires were readily embedded in Si matrix and compatible with the sophisticated Si technology, which suggested a feasible strategy to fabricate nanowires for fundamental studies and a wide variety of applications.PACS: 81.07.Gf, 81.16.Dn, 68.65.-k, 68.37.Ps.

A promising routine to fabricate GeSi nanowires via self-assembly on miscut Si (001 substrates

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Zhong Zhenyang

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Very small and compactly arranged GeSi nanowires could self-assembled on vicinal Si (001 substrates with ~8° off toward ⟨110⟩ during Ge deposition. The nanowires were all oriented along the miscut direction. The small ration of height over width of the nanowire indicated that the nanowires were bordered partly with {1 0 5} facets. These self-assembled small nanowires were remarkably influenced by the growth conditions and the miscut angle of substrates in comparison with large dome-like islands obtained after sufficient Ge deposition. These results proposed that the formation of the nanowire was energetically driven under growth kinetic assistance. Three-dimensionally self-assembled GeSi nanowires were first realized via multilayer Ge growth separated with Si spacers. These GeSi nanowires were readily embedded in Si matrix and compatible with the sophisticated Si technology, which suggested a feasible strategy to fabricate nanowires for fundamental studies and a wide variety of applications. PACS: 81.07.Gf, 81.16.Dn, 68.65.-k, 68.37.Ps

Dislocation-free Ge Nano-crystals via Pattern Independent Selective Ge Heteroepitaxy on Si Nano-Tip Wafers.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Gang; Capellini, Giovanni; Schubert, Markus Andreas; Niermann, Tore; Zaumseil, Peter; Katzer, Jens; Krause, Hans-Michael; Skibitzki, Oliver; Lehmann, Michael; Xie, Ya-Hong; von Känel, Hans; Schroeder, Thomas

2016-03-04

The integration of dislocation-free Ge nano-islands was realized via selective molecular beam epitaxy on Si nano-tip patterned substrates. The Si-tip wafers feature a rectangular array of nanometer sized Si tips with (001) facet exposed among a SiO2 matrix. These wafers were fabricated by complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible nanotechnology. Calculations based on nucleation theory predict that the selective growth occurs close to thermodynamic equilibrium, where condensation of Ge adatoms on SiO2 is disfavored due to the extremely short re-evaporation time and diffusion length. The growth selectivity is ensured by the desorption-limited growth regime leading to the observed pattern independence, i.e. the absence of loading effect commonly encountered in chemical vapor deposition. The growth condition of high temperature and low deposition rate is responsible for the observed high crystalline quality of the Ge islands which is also associated with negligible Si-Ge intermixing owing to geometric hindrance by the Si nano-tip approach. Single island as well as area-averaged characterization methods demonstrate that Ge islands are dislocation-free and heteroepitaxial strain is fully relaxed. Such well-ordered high quality Ge islands present a step towards the achievement of materials suitable for optical applications.

Ge nanocrystals embedded in ultrathin Si3N4 multilayers with SiO2 barriers

Science.gov (United States)

Bahariqushchi, R.; Gundogdu, Sinan; Aydinli, A.

2017-04-01

Multilayers of germanium nanocrystals (NCs) embedded in thin films of silicon nitride matrix separated with SiO2 barriers have been fabricated using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). SiGeN/SiO2 alternating bilayers have been grown on quartz and Si substrates followed by post annealing in Ar ambient from 600 to 900 °C. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) as well as Raman spectroscopy show good crystallinity of Ge confined to SiGeN layers in samples annealed at 900 °C. Strong compressive stress for SiGeN/SiO2 structures were observed through Raman spectroscopy. Size, as well as NC-NC distance were controlled along the growth direction for multilayer samples by varying the thickness of bilayers. Visible photoluminescence (PL) at 2.3 and 3.1 eV with NC size dependent intensity is observed and possible origin of PL is discussed.

Magnetism in Mn-nanowires and -clusters as δ-doped layers in group IV semiconductors (Si, Ge

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K. R. Simov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Mn doping of group-IV semiconductors (Si/Ge is achieved by embedding nanostructured Mn-layers in group-IV matrix. The Mn-nanostructures are monoatomic Mn-wires or Mn-clusters and capped with an amorphous Si or Ge layer. The precise fabrication of δ-doped Mn-layers is combined with element-specific detection of the magnetic signature with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. The largest moment (2.5 μB/Mn is measured for Mn-wires with ionic bonding character and a-Ge overlayer cap; a-Si capping reduces the moment due to variations of bonding in agreement with theoretical predictions. The moments in δ-doped layers dominated by clusters is quenched with an antiferromagnetic component from Mn–Mn bonding.

Strain field mapping of dislocations in a Ge/Si heterostructure.

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Quanlong Liu

Full Text Available Ge/Si heterostructure with fully strain-relaxed Ge film was grown on a Si (001 substrate by using a two-step process by ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The dislocations in the Ge/Si heterostructure were experimentally investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM. The dislocations at the Ge/Si interface were identified to be 90° full-edge dislocations, which are the most efficient way for obtaining a fully relaxed Ge film. The only defect found in the Ge epitaxial film was a 60° dislocation. The nanoscale strain field of the dislocations was mapped by geometric phase analysis technique from the HRTEM image. The strain field around the edge component of the 60° dislocation core was compared with those of the Peierls-Nabarro and Foreman dislocation models. Comparison results show that the Foreman model with a = 1.5 can describe appropriately the strain field around the edge component of a 60° dislocation core in a relaxed Ge film on a Si substrate.

Strain field mapping of dislocations in a Ge/Si heterostructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Quanlong; Zhao, Chunwang; Su, Shaojian; Li, Jijun; Xing, Yongming; Cheng, Buwen

2013-01-01

Ge/Si heterostructure with fully strain-relaxed Ge film was grown on a Si (001) substrate by using a two-step process by ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition. The dislocations in the Ge/Si heterostructure were experimentally investigated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The dislocations at the Ge/Si interface were identified to be 90° full-edge dislocations, which are the most efficient way for obtaining a fully relaxed Ge film. The only defect found in the Ge epitaxial film was a 60° dislocation. The nanoscale strain field of the dislocations was mapped by geometric phase analysis technique from the HRTEM image. The strain field around the edge component of the 60° dislocation core was compared with those of the Peierls-Nabarro and Foreman dislocation models. Comparison results show that the Foreman model with a = 1.5 can describe appropriately the strain field around the edge component of a 60° dislocation core in a relaxed Ge film on a Si substrate.

Towards rhombohedral SiGe epitaxy on 150mm c-plane sapphire substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Duzik, Adam J.; Park, Yeonjoon; Choi, Sang H.

2015-04-01

Previous work demonstrated for the first time the ability to epitaxially grow uniform single crystal diamond cubic SiGe (111) films on trigonal sapphire (0001) substrates. While SiGe (111) forms two possible crystallographic twins on sapphire (0001), films consisting primarily of one twin were produced on up to 99.95% of the total wafer area. This permits new bandgap engineering possibilities and improved group IV based devices that can exploit the higher carrier mobility in Ge compared to Si. Models are proposed on the epitaxy of such dissimilar crystal structures based on the energetic favorability of crystallographic twins and surface reconstructions. This new method permits Ge (111) on sapphire (0001) epitaxy, rendering Ge an economically feasible replacement for Si in some applications, including higher efficiency Si/Ge/Si quantum well solar cells. Epitaxial SiGe films on sapphire showed a 280% increase in electron mobility and a 500% increase in hole mobility over single crystal Si. Moreover, Ge possesses a wider bandgap for solar spectrum conversion than Si, while the transparent sapphire substrate permits an inverted device structure, increasing the total efficiency to an estimated 30-40%, much higher than traditional Si solar cells. Hall Effect mobility measurements of the Ge layer in the Si/Ge/Si quantum well structure were performed to demonstrate the advantage in carrier mobility over a pure Si solar cell. Another application comes in the use of microelectromechanical devices technology, where high-resistivity Si is currently used as a substrate. Sapphire is a more resistive substrate and offers better performance via lower parasitic capacitance and higher film carrier mobility over the current Si-based technology.

Formation of the distributed NiSiGe nanocrystals nonvolatile memory formed by rapidly annealing in N2 and O2 ambient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Chih-Wei; Chang, Ting-Chang; Tu, Chun-Hao; Chiang, Cheng-Neng; Lin, Chao-Cheng; Chen, Min-Chen; Chang, Chun-Yen; Sze, Simon M.; Tseng, Tseung-Yuen

2010-01-01

In this work, electrical characteristics of the Ge-incorporated Nickel silicide (NiSiGe) nanocrystals memory device formed by the rapidly thermal annealing in N 2 and O 2 ambient have been studied. The trapping layer was deposited by co-sputtering the NiSi 2 and Ge, simultaneously. Transmission electron microscope results indicate that the NiSiGe nanocrystals were formed obviously in both the samples. The memory devices show obvious charge-storage ability under capacitance-voltage measurement. However, it is found that the NiSiGe nanocrystals device formed by annealing in N 2 ambient has smaller memory window and better retention characteristics than in O 2 ambient. Then, related material analyses were used to confirm that the oxidized Ge elements affect the charge-storage sites and the electrical performance of the NCs memory.

Phosphorus atomic layer doping in SiGe using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Yuji; Heinemann, Bernd; Murota, Junichi; Tillack, Bernd

2014-01-01

Phosphorus (P) atomic layer doping in SiGe is investigated at temperatures between 100 °C to 600 °C using a single wafer reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition system. SiGe(100) surface is exposed to PH 3 at different PH 3 partial pressures by interrupting SiGe growth. The impact of the SiGe buffer/cap growth condition (total pressure/SiGe deposition precursors) on P adsorption, incorporation, and segregation are investigated. In the case of SiH 4 -GeH 4 -H 2 gas system, steeper P spikes due to lower segregation are observed by SiGe cap deposition at atmospheric (ATM) pressure compared with reduced pressure (RP). The steepness of P spike of ∼ 5.7 nm/dec is obtained for ATM pressure without reducing deposition temperature. This result may be due to the shift of equilibrium of P adsorption/desorption to desorption direction by higher H 2 pressure. Using Si 2 H 6 -GeH 4 -H 2 gas system for SiGe cap deposition in RP, lowering the SiGe growth temperature is possible, resulting in higher P incorporation and steeper P profile due to reduced desorption and segregation. In the case of Si 2 H 6 -GeH 4 -H 2 gas system, the P dose could be simulated assuming a Langmuir-type kinetics model. Incorporated P shows high electrical activity, indicating P is adsorbed mostly in lattice position. - Highlights: • Phosphorus (P) atomic layer doping in SiGe (100) is investigated using CVD. • P adsorption is suppressed by the hydrogen termination of Ge surface. • By SiGe cap deposition at atmospheric pressure, P segregation was suppressed. • By using Si 2 H 6 -based SiGe cap, P segregation was also suppressed. • The P adsorption process is self-limited and follows Langmuir-type kinetics model

Temperature dependence of the interband critical points of bulk Ge and strained Ge on Si

Science.gov (United States)

Fernando, Nalin S.; Nunley, T. Nathan; Ghosh, Ayana; Nelson, Cayla M.; Cooke, Jacqueline A.; Medina, Amber A.; Zollner, Stefan; Xu, Chi; Menendez, Jose; Kouvetakis, John

2017-11-01

Epitaxial Ge layers on a Si substrate experience a tensile biaxial stress due to the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the Ge epilayer and the Si substrate, which can be measured using asymmetric X-ray diffraction reciprocal space maps. This stress depends on temperature and affects the band structure, interband critical points, and optical spectra. This manuscripts reports careful measurements of the temperature dependence of the dielectric function and the interband critical point parameters of bulk Ge and Ge epilayers on Si using spectroscopic ellipsometry from 80 to 780 K and from 0.8 to 6.5 eV. The authors find a temperature-dependent redshift of the E1 and E1 + Δ1 critical points in Ge on Si (relative to bulk Ge). This redshift can be described well with a model based on thermal expansion coefficients, continuum elasticity theory, and the deformation potential theory for interband transitions. The interband transitions leading to E0‧ and E2 critical points have lower symmetry and therefore are not affected by the stress.

Interfacial sharpness and intermixing in a Ge-SiGe multiple quantum well structure

Science.gov (United States)

Bashir, A.; Gallacher, K.; Millar, R. W.; Paul, D. J.; Ballabio, A.; Frigerio, J.; Isella, G.; Kriegner, D.; Ortolani, M.; Barthel, J.; MacLaren, I.

2018-01-01

A Ge-SiGe multiple quantum well structure created by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition, with nominal well thickness of 5.4 nm separated by 3.6 nm SiGe spacers, is analysed quantitatively using scanning transmission electron microscopy. Both high angle annular dark field imaging and electron energy loss spectroscopy show that the interfaces are not completely sharp, suggesting that there is some intermixing of Si and Ge at each interface. Two methods are compared for the quantification of the spectroscopy datasets: a self-consistent approach that calculates binary substitutional trends without requiring experimental or computational k-factors from elsewhere and a standards-based cross sectional calculation. Whilst the cross section approach is shown to be ultimately more reliable, the self-consistent approach provides surprisingly good results. It is found that the Ge quantum wells are actually about 95% Ge and that the spacers, whilst apparently peaking at about 35% Si, contain significant interdiffused Ge at each side. This result is shown to be not just an artefact of electron beam spreading in the sample, but mostly arising from a real chemical interdiffusion resulting from the growth. Similar results are found by use of X-ray diffraction from a similar area of the sample. Putting the results together suggests a real interdiffusion with a standard deviation of about 0.87 nm, or put another way—a true width defined from 10%-90% of the compositional gradient of about 2.9 nm. This suggests an intrinsic limit on how sharp such interfaces can be grown by this method and, whilst 95% Ge quantum wells (QWs) still behave well enough to have good properties, any attempt to grow thinner QWs would require modifications to the growth procedure to reduce this interdiffusion, in order to maintain a composition of ≥95% Ge.

Phase analysis and magnetocaloric properties of Zr substituted Gd-Si-Ge alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prabahar, K.; Raj Kumar, D.M.; Manivel Raja, M.; Chandrasekaran, V.

2011-01-01

The structure, microstructure, magneto-structural transition and magnetocaloric effect have been investigated in series of (Gd 5-x Zr x )Si 2 Ge 2 alloys with 0≤x≥0.20. X-ray powder diffraction analysis revealed the presence of orthorhombic structure for Zr containing alloys at room temperature in contrast to the monoclinic structure observed in the parent Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 alloy. The microstructural studies reveal that, low Zr addition (x≤0.1) resulted in low volume fraction of detrimental Gd 5 Si 3 -type secondary phase compared to that present in the parent alloy. All the Zr containing alloys have shown the presence of only second order magnetic transition unlike the parent alloy showing both first order structural and second order magnetic transition. A moderate (ΔS) M value of -5.5 J/kg K was obtained for the x=0.05 alloy at an enhanced operating temperature of 292 K compared to -7.8 J/kg K at 274 K of the parent alloy for an applied field of 2 T. The interesting feature of Zr (x=0.05) containing alloy is the wide operating temperature range of ∼25 K than that of ∼10-12 K for the parent, which resulted in enhanced net refrigerant capacity of 103 J/kg compared to that of 53 J/kg for the parent alloy. - Research highlights: → Zr addition in Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 alloy has been investigated for the first time to reduce the 5:3-type (Gd 5 Si 3 ) secondary phase formed when using commercial grade elements in Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 alloy. → It is interesting to observe that Zr addition decrease the volume fraction 5:3. → The refrigerator capacity and transition temperature of Zr added alloy is greater than the pure Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 which makes this alloy promising for room temperature application.

On the Potential Application of the Wrinkled SiGe/SiGe Nanofilms

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Fedorchenko, Alexander I.; Cheng, H. H.; Wang, W.; Ch.

2016-01-01

Roč. 6, č. 2 (2016), s. 19-23 ISSN 2160-049X Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : wrinkled SiGe nanofilms * terahertz radiation * terahertz gap Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics http://www.scirp.org/journal/wjm,http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/wjm.2016.62003

Electrical characterisation of SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors and Si pseudo-HBTS

Science.gov (United States)

De Barros, O.; Le Tron, B.; Woods, R. C.; Giroult-Matlakowski, G.; Vincent, G.; Brémond, G.

1996-08-01

This paper reports an electrical characterisation of the emitter-base junction of Si pseudo-HBTs and SiGe HBTs fabricated in a CMOS compatible single polysilicon self-aligned process. From the reverse characteristics it appears that the definition of the emitter-base junction by plasma etching induces peripheral defects that increase the base current of the transistors. Deep level transient spectroscopy measurements show a deep level in the case of SiGe base, whose spatial origin is not fully determinate up to now.

Giant magnetocaloric effect in Gd5(Si2Ge2 alloy with low purity Gd

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Cleber Santiago Alves

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Gd5(Ge1-xSi x, x < 4 based alloys are potential candidates for magnetic refrigeration in the range ~20 - ~290 K. However, one of the greatest obstacles for the use of that technology in large scale is the utilization of high pure Gd metal (99.99 wt. (% to produce the GdGeSi alloys, since the impurity elements decrease the intensity of the magnetocaloric effect (EMC¹. In this work, we prove that annealing of the Gd5Ge2Si2 can promote remarkable values for the EMC in comparison to those obtained for the alloy with high pure Gd. Also, the as cast alloy and the annealed alloy are not monophasic, but have at least two crystalline phases in their microstructure. Results for X-ray analysis, optical and electronic microscopy and magnetization measurements are reported.

Physical studies of strained Si/SiGe heterostructures. From virtual substrates to nanodevices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minamisawa, Renato Amaral

2011-10-21

During the past two decades, the decrease in intrinsic delay of MOSFETs has been driven by the scaling of the device dimensions. The performance improvement has relied mostly in the increase of source velocity with gate scaling, while the transport properties of the channel have remained constant, i.e., those of conventional Si. Starting at the 90 nm node, uniaxial strain has been introduced in the transistor channel in order to further increase the source velocity. Beyond the 32 nm node, novel channel materials, with superior carrier velocities, and novel device architectures are required in order to continue the performance enhancement of MOSFETs while preserving the electrostatic control. In this Thesis, different physical aspects of strained Si and SiGe materials are investigated as a mean to increase carrier velocity in MOSFET channels. Novel approaches for the fabrication of strained Si based on ion implantation and anneal induced relaxation of virtual substrates are developed. The strain relaxation of SiGe layers is improved using a buried thin Si:C layer in the Si(100) substrate. Further, a Si{sup +} ion implantation and annealing method is investigated for relaxing virtual substrates using lower implantation dose. Finally, the uniaxial relaxation of {l_brace}110{r_brace} surface oriented substrates is demonstrated using a He ion implantation and anneal technique. Apart of channel material studies, the fundamental and technological challenges involved in the integration of strained Si and SiGe into MOSFETs are assessed. The impact of source and drain formation on the elastic strain and electrical properties of strained Si layers and nanowires is examined. Also, the formation of ultra-shallow junction in strained Si/strained Si{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}/SSOI heterostructures is investigated using different types of ion implanted specie and annealing. The results show that BF{sup +}{sub 2} implantation and low temperature annealing are suitable approaches for

Heteroepitaxial Ge-on-Si by DC magnetron sputtering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Steglich

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The growth of Ge on Si(100 by DC Magnetron Sputtering at various temperatures is studied by Spectroscopic Ellipsometry and Transmission Electron Microscopy. Smooth heteroepitaxial Ge films are prepared at relatively low temperatures of 380°C. Typical Stransky-Krastanov growth is observed at 410°C. At lower temperatures (320°C, films are essentially amorphous with isolated nanocrystallites at the Si-Ge interface. A minor oxygen contamination at the interface, developing after ex-situ oxide removal, is not seen to hinder epitaxy. Compensation of dislocation-induced acceptors in Ge by sputtering from n-doped targets is proposed.

First principles-based adsorption comparison of group IV elements (C, Si, Ge, and Sn) on Au(111)/Ag(111) surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakraborty, Sudip; Rajesh, Ch.

2012-01-01

We have reported a first-principle investigation of the structural properties of monomer and dimer for group IV elements (C, Si, Ge, and Sn) adsorbed on the Au(111) and Ag(111) surfaces. The calculations were performed by means of a plane wave based pseudopotential method under the framework of density functional theory. The results reveal the preference of adatom to be adsorbed on the hexagonal closed packed site of the metal (111) surfaces with strong binding energy. The structures introduce interlayer forces in the adsorbate. The strong bonding with the surface atoms is a result of p–d hybridization. The adsorption energy follows a sequence as one goes down in the group IV elements which imply that the interaction of the group IV elements with Au/Ag is decreasing as the atomic number increases.

Properties of laser-crystallized polycrystalline SiGe thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weizman, Moshe

2008-06-06

In this thesis, structural, electrical, and optical properties of laser-crystallized polycrystalline Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} thin films with 0Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} thin films with 0.3SiGe samples that are exposed to a single laser pulse exhibit a ripple structure that evolves into a hillock structure when the samples are irradiated with additional laser pulses. - It is maintained that the main mechanism behind the structure formation is an instability of the propagating solid-liquid interface during solidification. - The study of defects with electron spin resonance showed that laser-crystallized poly-Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} thin films with 0Ge content. The defect density for solid-phase crystallized SiGe films was lower and amounted to N{sub s}=7 x 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3}. - Germanium-rich laser-crystallized poly-SiGe thin films exhibited mostly a broad atypical electric dipole spin resonance (EDSR) signal that was accompanied by a nearly temperature-independent electrical conductivity in the range 20-100 K. - Most likely, the origin of the grain boundary conductance is due to dangling-bond defects and not impurities. Metallic-like conductance occurs when the dangling-bond defect density is above a critical value of about N{sub C} {approx} 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}. - Laser crystallized poly-Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} thin films with x{>=}0.5 exhibit optical absorption behavior that is characteristic for disordered SiGe, implying that the absorption occurs primarily at the grain boundaries. A sub-band-gap absorption peak was found for

Ge nanocrystals formed by furnace annealing of Ge(x)[SiO2](1-x) films: structure and optical properties

Science.gov (United States)

Volodin, V. A.; Cherkov, A. G.; Antonenko, A. Kh; Stoffel, M.; Rinnert, H.; Vergnat, M.

2017-07-01

Ge(x)[SiO2](1-x) (0.1  ⩽  x  ⩽  0.4) films were deposited onto Si(0 0 1) or fused quartz substrates using co-evaporation of both Ge and SiO2 in high vacuum. Germanium nanocrystals were synthesized in the SiO2 matrix by furnace annealing of Ge x [SiO2](1-x) films with x  ⩾  0.2. According to electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy data, the average size of the nanocrystals depends weakly on the annealing temperature (700, 800, or 900 °C) and on the Ge concentration in the films. Neither amorphous Ge clusters nor Ge nanocrystals were observed in as-deposited and annealed Ge0.1[SiO2]0.9 films. Infrared absorption spectroscopy measurements show that the studied films do not contain a noticeable amount of GeO x clusters. After annealing at 900 °C intermixing of germanium and silicon atoms was still negligible thus preventing the formation of GeSi nanocrystals. For annealed samples, we report the observation of infrared photoluminescence at low temperatures, which can be explained by exciton recombination in Ge nanocrystals. Moreover, we report strong photoluminescence in the visible range at room temperature, which is certainly due to Ge-related defect-induced radiative transitions.

Growth of BaSi2 continuous films on Ge(111) by molecular beam epitaxy and fabrication of p-BaSi2/n-Ge heterojunction solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Takabe, Ryota; Yachi, Suguru; Tsukahara, Daichi; Toko, Kaoru; Suemasu, Takashi

2017-05-01

We grew BaSi2 films on Ge(111) substrates by various growth methods based on molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). First, we attempted to form BaSi2 films directly on Ge(111) by MBE without templates. We next formed BaSi2 films using BaGe2 templates as commonly used for MBE growth of BaSi2 on Si substrates. Contrary to our prediction, the lateral growth of BaSi2 was not promoted by these two methods; BaSi2 formed not into a continuous film but into islands. Although streaky patterns of reflection high-energy electron diffraction were observed inside the growth chamber, no X-ray diffraction lines of BaSi2 were observed in samples taken out from the growth chamber. Such BaSi2 islands were easily to get oxidized. We finally attempted to form a continuous BaSi2 template layer on Ge(111) by solid phase epitaxy, that is, the deposition of amorphous Ba-Si layers onto MBE-grown BaSi2 epitaxial islands, followed by post annealing. We achieved the formation of an approximately 5-nm-thick BaSi2 continuous layer by this method. Using this BaSi2 layer as a template, we succeeded in forming a-axis-oriented 520-nm-thick BaSi2 epitaxial films on Ge substrates, although (111)-oriented Si grains were included in the grown layer. We next formed a B-doped p-BaSi2(20 nm)/n-Ge(111) heterojunction solar cell. A wide-spectrum response from 400 to 2000 nm was achieved. At an external bias voltage of 1 V, the external quantum efficiency reached as high as 60%, demonstrating the great potential of BaSi2/Ge combination. However, the efficiency of a solar cell under AM1.5 illumination was quite low (0.1%). The origin of such a low efficiency was examined.

Shaping Ge islands on Si(001) surfaces with misorientation angle.

Science.gov (United States)

Persichetti, L; Sgarlata, A; Fanfoni, M; Balzarotti, A

2010-01-22

A complete description of Ge growth on vicinal Si(001) surfaces in the angular miscut range 0 degrees -8 degrees is presented. The key role of substrate vicinality is clarified from the very early stages of Ge deposition up to the nucleation of 3D islands. By a systematic scanning tunneling microscopy investigation we are able to explain the competition between step-flow growth and 2D nucleation and the progressive elongation of the 3D islands along the miscut direction [110]. Using finite element calculations, we find a strict correlation between the morphological evolution and the energetic factors which govern the {105} faceting at atomic scale.

SiGe-based re-engineering of electronic warfare subsystems

CERN Document Server

Lambrechts, Wynand

2017-01-01

This book equips readers with a thorough understanding of the applicability of new-generation silicon-germanium (SiGe) electronic subsystems for the military purposes of electronic warfare and defensive countermeasures. The theoretical and technical background is extensively explained and all aspects of the integration of SiGe as an enabling technology for maritime, land, and airborne (including space) electronic warfare are addressed, including research, design, development, and implementation. The coverage is supported by mathematical derivations, informative illustrations, practical examples, and case studies. While SiGe technology provides speed, performance, and price advantages in many markets, sharing of information on its use in electronic warfare systems has to date been limited, especially in developing nations. This book will therefore be warmly welcomed as an engineering guideline that focuses especially on the speed and reliability of current-generation SiGe circuits and highlights emerging innov...

C and Si delta doping in Ge by CH_3SiH_3 using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Yuji; Ueno, Naofumi; Sakuraba, Masao; Murota, Junichi; Mai, Andreas; Tillack, Bernd

2016-01-01

C and Si delta doping in Ge are investigated using a reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition system to establish atomic-order controlled processes. CH_3SiH_3 is exposed at 250 °C to 500 °C to a Ge on Si (100) substrate using H_2 or N_2 carrier gas followed by a Ge cap layer deposition. At 350 °C, C and Si are uniformly adsorbed on the Ge surface and the incorporated C and Si form steep delta profiles below detection limit of SIMS measurement. By using N_2 as carrier gas, the incorporated C and Si doses in Ge are saturated at one mono-layer below 350 °C. At this temperature range, the incorporated C and Si doses are nearly the same, indicating CH_3SiH_3 is adsorbed on the Ge surface without decomposing the C−Si bond. On the other hand, by using H_2 as carrier gas, lower incorporated C is observed in comparison to Si. CH_3SiH_3 injected with H_2 carrier gas is adsorbed on Ge without decomposing the C−Si bond and the adsorbed C is reduced by dissociation of the C−Si bond during temperature ramp up to 550 °C. The adsorbed C is maintained on the Ge surface in N_2 at 550 °C. - Highlights: • C and Si delta doping in Ge is investigated using RPCVD system by CH_3SiH_3 exposure. • Atomically flat C and Si delta layers are fabricated at 350 °C. • Incorporated C and Si doses are saturated at one mono-layer below 350 °C. • CH_3SiH_3 adsorption occurred without decomposing C−Si bond. • Adsorbed C is desorbed due to dissociation by hydrogen during postannealing at 550 °C.

The Role of Ge Wetting Layer and Ge Islands in Si MSM Photodetectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmodi, H.; Hashim, M. R.

2010-01-01

In this work, Ge thin films were deposited on silicon substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering to form Ge islands from Ge layer on Si substrate during post-growth rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The size of the islands decreases from 0.6 to 0.1 as the rapid thermal annealing time increases from 30 s to 60 s at 900 deg. C. Not only that the annealing produces Ge islands but also wetting layer. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed for structural analysis of Ge islands. Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetectors (MSM PDs) were fabricated on Ge islands (and wetting layer)/Si. The Ge islands and wetting layer between the contacts of the fabricated devices are etched in order to see their effects on the device. The performance of the Ge islands MSM-PD was evaluated by dark and photo current-voltage (I-V) measurements at room temperature (RT). It was found that the device with island and wetting layer significantly enhance the current gain (ratio of photo current to dark current) of the device.

Heavy ion recoil spectrometry of Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walker, S.R.; Johnston, P.N.; Bubb, I.F. [Royal Melbourne Inst. of Tech., VIC (Australia); Cohen, D.D.; Dytlewski, N. [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia); Hult, M.; Whitlow, H.J. [Lund Institute of Technology, Solvegatan (Sweden). Department of Nuclear Physics; Zaring, C.; Oestling, M. [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Solid State Electronics

1993-12-31

Mass and energy dispersive recoil spectrometry employing 77 MeV {sup 127}I ions from ANTARES (FN Tandem) facility at Lucas Heights has been used to examine the isotopic composition of samples of Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} grown at the Australian National University by Electron Beam Evaporation (EBE). The recoiling target nuclei were analysed by a Time Of Flight and Energy (TOF-E) detector telescope composed of two timing pickoff detectors and a surface barrier (energy) detector. From the time of flight and energy, the ion mass can be determined and individual depth distributions for each element can be obtained. Recoil spectrometry has shown the presence of oxygen in the Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} layer and has enabled the separate determination of energy spectra for individual elements. 9 refs., 3 figs.

Heavy ion recoil spectrometry of Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} thin films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walker, S R; Johnston, P N; Bubb, I F [Royal Melbourne Inst. of Tech., VIC (Australia); Cohen, D D; Dytlewski, N [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia); Hult, M; Whitlow, H J [Lund Institute of Technology, Solvegatan (Sweden). Department of Nuclear Physics; Zaring, C; Oestling, M [Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm (Sweden). Dept. of Solid State Electronics

1994-12-31

Mass and energy dispersive recoil spectrometry employing 77 MeV {sup 127}I ions from ANTARES (FN Tandem) facility at Lucas Heights has been used to examine the isotopic composition of samples of Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} grown at the Australian National University by Electron Beam Evaporation (EBE). The recoiling target nuclei were analysed by a Time Of Flight and Energy (TOF-E) detector telescope composed of two timing pickoff detectors and a surface barrier (energy) detector. From the time of flight and energy, the ion mass can be determined and individual depth distributions for each element can be obtained. Recoil spectrometry has shown the presence of oxygen in the Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} layer and has enabled the separate determination of energy spectra for individual elements. 9 refs., 3 figs.

Ion beam analysis of the dry thermal oxidation of thin polycrystalline SiGe films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kling, A.; Soares, J.C.; Prieto, A.C.; Jimenez, J.; Rodriguez, A.; Sangrador, J.; Rodriguez, T.

2005-01-01

Nanoparticles of Ge embedded in a formed dielectric matrix appear as very promising systems for electronic and photonic applications. We present here an exhaustive characterization of the oxidation process of polycrystalline SiGe layers from the starting of its oxidation process to the total oxidation of it. We have characterized the process by RBS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, showing the necessity to use different techniques in order to get a full view of the process. First the Si-Si and Si-Ge bonds are oxidized growing SiO 2 , and Ge segregates from the SiO 2 . As soon as all Si is oxidized GeO 2 is growing gradually. RBS has demonstrated to be very useful to characterize the SiO 2 and the remaining non-oxidized poly-SiGe layer thickness, as well as for the determination of the Ge fraction, where the high sensitivity of this technique allows to explore its whole range. On the other hand, for the reliable determination of the GeO 2 thickness, information on the amount of Ge-O bonding had to be obtained from FTIR spectra. Raman spectroscopy yields detailed information about the oxidation processes for different bonds (Si-Si, Si-Ge, Ge-Ge)

Enhanced Emission of Quantum System in Si-Ge Nanolayer Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhong-Mei; Huang, Wei-Qi; Dong, Tai-Ge; Wang, Gang; Wu, Xue-Ke

2016-12-01

It is very interesting that the enhanced peaks near 1150 and 1550 nm are observed in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra in the quantum system of Si-Ge nanolayer structure, which have the emission characteristics of a three-level system with quantum dots (QDs) pumping and emission of quasi-direct-gap band, in our experiment. In the preparing process of Si-Ge nanolayer structure by using a pulsed laser deposition method, it is discovered that the nanocrystals of Si and Ge grow in the (100) and (111) directions after annealing or electron beam irradiation. The enhanced PL peaks with multi-longitudinal-mode are measured at room temperature in the super-lattice of Si-Ge nanolayer quantum system on SOI.

Extreme IR absorption in group IV-SiGeSn core-shell nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Attiaoui, Anis; Wirth, Stephan; Blanchard-Dionne, André-Pierre; Meunier, Michel; Hartmann, J. M.; Buca, Dan; Moutanabbir, Oussama

2018-06-01

Sn-containing Si and Ge (Ge1-y-xSixSny) alloys are an emerging family of semiconductors with the potential to impact group IV material-based devices. These semiconductors provide the ability to independently engineer both the lattice parameter and bandgap, which holds the premise to develop enhanced or novel photonic and electronic devices. With this perspective, we present detailed investigations of the influence of Ge1-y-xSixSny layers on the optical properties of Si and Ge based heterostructures and nanowires. We found that by adding a thin Ge1-y-xSixSny capping layer on Si or Ge greatly enhances light absorption especially in the near infrared range, leading to an increase in short-circuit current density. For the Ge1-y-xSixSny structure at thicknesses below 30 nm, a 14-fold increase in the short-circuit current is observed with respect to bare Si. This enhancement decreases by reducing the capping layer thickness. Conversely, decreasing the shell thickness was found to improve the short-circuit current in Si/Ge1-y-xSixSny and Ge/Ge1-y-xSixSny core/shell nanowires. The optical absorption becomes very important by increasing the Sn content. Moreover, by exploiting an optical antenna effect, these nanowires show extreme light absorption, reaching an enhancement factor, with respect to Si or Ge nanowires, on the order of 104 in Si/Ge0.84Si0.04Sn0.12 and 12 in Ge/Ge0.84Si0.04Sn0.12. Furthermore, we analyzed the optical response after the addition of a dielectric layer of Si3N4 to the Si/Ge1-y-xSixSny core-shell nanowire and found approximatively a 50% increase in the short-circuit current density for a dielectric layer of thickness equal to 45 nm and both a core radius and a shell thickness greater than 40 nm. The core-shell optical antenna benefits from a multiplication of enhancements contributed by leaky mode resonances in the semiconductor part and antireflection effects in the dielectric part.

Atomistics of Ge deposition on Si(100) by atomic layer epitaxy.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, D S; Wu, J L; Pan, S Y; Chiang, T C

2003-01-31

Chlorine termination of mixed Ge/Si(100) surfaces substantially enhances the contrast between Ge and Si sites in scanning tunneling microscopy observations. This finding enables a detailed investigation of the spatial distribution of Ge atoms deposited on Si(100) by atomic layer epitaxy. The results are corroborated by photoemission measurements aided by an unusually large chemical shift between Cl adsorbed on Si and Ge. Adsorbate-substrate atomic exchange during growth is shown to be important. The resulting interface is thus graded, but characterized by a very short length scale of about one monolayer.

Kirkendall void formation in reverse step graded Si1-xGex/Ge/Si(001) virtual substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Sivadasan, Vineet; Rhead, Stephen; Leadley, David; Myronov, Maksym

2018-02-01

Formation of Kirkendall voids is demonstrated in the Ge underlayer of reverse step graded Si1-xGex/Ge buffer layers grown on Si(001) using reduced pressure chemical vapour deposition (RP-CVD). This phenomenon is seen when the constant composition Si1-xGex layer is grown at high temperatures and for x ≤ 0.7. The density and size of the spherical voids can be tuned by changing Ge content in the Si1-xGex and other growth parameters.

Enhanced relaxation of strained Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} layers induced by Co/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} thermal reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ridgway, M.C.; Elliman, R.G.; Rao, M.R. [Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia); Baribeau, J.M. [National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1993-12-31

Enhanced relaxation of strained Ge{sub x}Si{sub l-x} layers during the formation of CoSi{sub 2} by Co/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} thermal reaction has been observed. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to monitor the extent of relaxation. Possible mechanisms responsible for the enhanced relaxation, including metal-induced dislocation nucleation, chemical and/or structural inhomogeneities at the reacted layer/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} interface and point defect injection due to silicide formation will be discussed. Also, methodologies for inhibiting relaxation will be presented. 11 refs., 1 fig.

Enhanced relaxation of strained Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} layers induced by Co/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} thermal reaction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ridgway, M C; Elliman, R G; Rao, M R [Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia); Baribeau, J M [National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1994-12-31

Enhanced relaxation of strained Ge{sub x}Si{sub l-x} layers during the formation of CoSi{sub 2} by Co/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} thermal reaction has been observed. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to monitor the extent of relaxation. Possible mechanisms responsible for the enhanced relaxation, including metal-induced dislocation nucleation, chemical and/or structural inhomogeneities at the reacted layer/Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} interface and point defect injection due to silicide formation will be discussed. Also, methodologies for inhibiting relaxation will be presented. 11 refs., 1 fig.

Structure of eutectic alloys of Au with Si and Ge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takeda, S. [Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-2-1, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka 810-8560 (Japan)], E-mail: takeda@rc.kyushu-u.ac.jp; Fujii, H. [Graduate School of Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-2-1, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka 810-8560 (Japan); Kawakita, Y. [Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-2-1, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka 810-8560 (Japan); Tahara, S.; Nakashima, S. [Graduate School of Sciences, Kyushu University, 4-2-1, Ropponmatsu, Fukuoka 810-8560 (Japan); Kohara, S.; Itou, M. [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Koto Sayo-cho, Sayo Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan)

2008-03-06

Au-Si and Au-Ge alloy systems have a deep eutectic point in the Au-rich concentration region where the melting point falls down to 633 K. In order to investigate the liquid structure in relation to the glass-forming tendency of these alloys, high-energy X-ray diffraction measurements have been carried out at the eutectic composition and at compositions with excess amounts of Au or IVb element. The nearest neighbor correlations in the eutectic liquids are intense and sharp in the pair distribution function and exhibit a rather small temperature dependence in comparison with those alloys of other than the eutectic composition. Structural models for these liquid alloys are proposed with the aid of reverse Monte Carlo simulation. The reproduced atomic arrangements around the eutectic region exhibit a substitutional-type structure where the dense random packing of Au atoms is preserved and Si or Ge atoms occupy the Au-sites at random.

The reliability studies of nano-engineered SiGe HBTs using Pelletron accelerator

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, A. P. Gnana; Praveen, K. C.; Pushpa, N.; Cressler, John D.

2015-05-01

The effects of high energy ions on the electrical characteristics of silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) were studied in the total dose of ranging from 600 krad to 100 Mrad (Si). The two generations (50 GHz and 200 GHz) of SiGe HBTs were exposed to 50 MeV lithium, 75 MeV boron and 100 MeV oxygen ions. The electrical characteristics of SiGe HBTs were studied before and after irradiation. The SiGe HBTs were exposed to 60Co gamma radiation in the same total dose. The results are systematically compared in order to understand the interaction of ions and ionizing radiation with SiGe HBTs.

The reliability studies of nano-engineered SiGe HBTs using Pelletron accelerator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prakash, A. P. Gnana, E-mail: gnanaprakash@physics.uni-mysore.ac.in; Praveen, K. C. [Department of Studies in Physics, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore, Karnataka-570006 (India); Pushpa, N. [Department of PG Studies in Physics, JSS College, Ooty Road, Mysore-570025 (India); Cressler, John D. [School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332 (United States)

2015-05-15

The effects of high energy ions on the electrical characteristics of silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) were studied in the total dose of ranging from 600 krad to 100 Mrad (Si). The two generations (50 GHz and 200 GHz) of SiGe HBTs were exposed to 50 MeV lithium, 75 MeV boron and 100 MeV oxygen ions. The electrical characteristics of SiGe HBTs were studied before and after irradiation. The SiGe HBTs were exposed to {sup 60}Co gamma radiation in the same total dose. The results are systematically compared in order to understand the interaction of ions and ionizing radiation with SiGe HBTs.

Comparative study of the luminescence of structures with Ge nanocrystals formed by dry and wet oxidation of SiGe films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

RodrIguez, A; Ortiz, M I; Sangrador, J; RodrIguez, T; Avella, M; Prieto, A C; Torres, A; Jimenez, J; Kling, A; Ballesteros, C

2007-01-01

The luminescence emission of structures containing Ge nanocrystals embedded in a dielectric matrix obtained by dry and wet oxidation of polycrystalline SiGe layers has been studied as a function of the oxidation time and initial SiGe layer thickness. A clear relationship between the intensity of the luminescence, the structure of the sample, the formation of Ge nanocrystals and the oxidation process parameters that allows us to select the appropriate process conditions to get the most efficient emission has been established. The evolution of the composition and thickness of the growing oxides and the remaining SiGe layer during the oxidation processes has been characterized using Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy. For dry oxidation, the luminescence appears suddenly, regardless of the initial SiGe layer thickness, when all the Si of the SiGe has been oxidized and the remaining layer of the segregated Ge starts to be oxidized forming Ge nanocrystals. Luminescence is observed as long as Ge nanocrystals are present. For wet oxidation, the luminescence appears from the first stages of the oxidation, and is related to the formation of Ge-rich nanoclusters trapped in the mixed (Si and Ge) growing oxide. A sharp increase of the luminescence intensity for long oxidation times is also observed, due to the formation of Ge nanocrystals by the oxidation of the layer of segregated Ge. For both processes the luminescence is quenched when the oxidation time is long enough to cause the full oxidation of the Ge nanocrystals. The intensity of the luminescence in the dry oxidized samples is about ten times higher than in the wet oxidized ones for equal initial thickness of the SiGe layer

Structural transition in Ge growth on Si mediated by sub-monolayer carbon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Yuhki; Hatakeyama, Shinji; Washio, Katsuyoshi

2014-01-01

Ge growth on Si mediated by sub-monolayer (ML) carbon (C) covered directly on Si surface was studied. C and Ge layers were grown on Si(100) substrates by using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy system. After Si surface cleaning by heating up to 900 °C, C up to 0.45 ML was deposited and then 10 to 15-nm-thick Ge were deposited. Reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns after sub-ML C deposition changed from streaks to halo depending on C coverage. The Ge dots were formed at low C coverage of 0.08–0.16 ML. Octagonal dots had three same facet planes of (001), (111), and (113) and consisted of the mixture of single crystals with dislocations along [111]. This is due to the event that the incorporation of small amount of C into Si surface gave rise to a strain. As a result, Si surface weaved Si(100) 2 × 1 with Si-C c(4 × 4) and Ge atoms adsorbed selectively on Si(100) 2 × 1 forming dome-shaped dots. A drastic structural transition from dots to films occurred at C coverage of 0.20 ML. The Ge films, consisting of relaxed poly- and amorphous-Ge, formed at C coverage of 0.20–0.45 ML. This is because a large amount of Si-C bonds induced strong compressive strain and surface roughening. In consequence, the growth mode changed from three-dimensional (3D) to 2D due to the reduction of Ge diffusion length. - Highlights: • Ge growth on Si mediated by sub-monolayer (ML) carbon (C) was studied. • Ge dots were formed at low C coverage of 0.08–0.16 ML. • Drastic structural transition from dots to films occurred at C coverage of 0.20 ML. • Ge films consisted of relaxed poly- and amorphous-Ge at C coverage of 0.20–0.45 ML

Influence of alloy disorder scattering on the hole mobility of SiGe nanowires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez-Blanque, Celso; Ruiz, Francisco G., E-mail: franruiz@ugr.es; Godoy, Andres, E-mail: agodoy@ugr.es; Marin, Enrique G.; Donetti, Luca; Gámiz, Francisco [Dpto. de Electrónica y Tecnología de Computadores, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Av. Fuentenueva S/N, 18071 Granada (Spain)

2014-12-28

In this work, we analyze the influence of the alloy disorder (AD) scattering on the low-field hole mobility of Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x} nanowires (NWs). To do it, the electrostatic description is achieved through a self-consistent solution of the Poisson equation and the six-band k⋅p method in the cross section of the NW. The momentum relaxation time approximation is used to calculate the hole mobility, including alloy disorder and phonon scattering mechanisms, and the use of approximations to calculate the overlap integrals for the scattering matrix elements is discussed. We study the influence of the alloy disorder scattering on the total mobility compared to the phonon contribution, for different values of the AD scattering parameter proposed in the literature, and analyze the performance of SiGe NWs as a function of the Ge molar fraction for both low and high inversion charge densities.

Strain and strain-release engineering at epitaxial SiGe islands on Si(0 0 1) for microelectronic applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vastola, G.; Marzegalli, A.; Montalenti, F.; Miglio, Leo

2009-01-01

We report original finite element method simulations of the strain components at nanometric GeSi island on Si(0 0 1), for realistic shape, sizes and average composition, discussing the main mechanisms acting in the misfit strain relaxation. The tensile strain induced in a 30 nm Si capping layer and the one upon removing the island, after fixing the top part of the Si layer, is discussed in view of application as a field effect transistor channel, with high career mobility induced by the lattice deformation. The large shear components obtained for steeper island morphologies are predicted to be particularly performing, especially in comparison to one another strained-silicon configuration (totally top-down originated), recently developed by IBM corporation.

Capacitor-less memory cell fabricated on nano-scale strained Si on a relaxed SiGe layer-on-insulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Tae-Hyun; Park, Jea-Gun

2013-01-01

We investigated the combined effect of the strained Si channel and hole confinement on the memory margin enhancement for a capacitor-less memory cell fabricated on nano-scale strained Si on a relaxed SiGe layer-on-insulator (ε-Si SGOI). The memory margin for the ε-Si SGOI capacitor-less memory cell was higher than that of the memory cell fabricated on an unstrained Si-on-insulator (SOI) and increased with increasing Ge concentration of the relaxed SiGe layer; i.e. the memory margin for the ε-Si SGOI capacitor-less memory cell (138.6 µA) at a 32 at% Ge concentration was 3.3 times higher than the SOI capacitor-less memory cell (43 µA). (paper)

Shallow acceptors in Ge/GeSi heterostructures with quantum wells in magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aleshkin, V.Ya.; Antonov, A.V.; Veksler, D.B.; Gavrilenko, V.I.; Erofeeva, I.V.; Ikonnikov, A.V.; Kozlov, D.V.; Spirin, K.E.; Kuznetsov, O.A.

2005-01-01

One investigated both theoretically and experimentally into shallow acceptors in Ge/GeSi heterostructures with quantum wells (QW) in a magnetic field. It is shown that alongside with lines of cyclotron resonance in magnetoabsorption spectra one observes transitions from the ground state of acceptor to the excited ones associated with the Landau levels from the first and the second subbands of dimensional quantization, and resonance caused by ionization of A + -centres. To describe impurity transitions in Ge/GeSi heterostructures with QW in a magnetic field and to interpret the experiment results in detail one uses numerical method of calculation based on expansion of wave function of acceptor in terms of basis of wave functions of holes in QW in the absence of magnetic field [ru

Enhanced formation of Ge nanocrystals in Ge : SiO2 layers by swift heavy ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonova, I V; Volodin, V A; Marin, D M; Skuratov, V A; Smagulova, S A; Janse van Vuuren, A; Neethling, J; Jedrzejewski, J; Balberg, I

2012-01-01

In this paper we report the ability of swift heavy Xe ions with an energy of 480 MeV and a fluence of 10 12 cm -2 to enhance the formation of Ge nanocrystals within SiO 2 layers with variable Ge contents. These Ge-SiO 2 films were fabricated by the co-sputtering of Ge and quartz sources which followed various annealing procedures. In particular, we found that the irradiation of the Ge : SiO 2 films with subsequent annealing at 500 °C leads to the formation of a high concentration of nanocrystals (NCs) with a size of 2-5 nm, whereas without irradiation only amorphous inclusions were observed. This effect, as evidenced by Raman spectra, is enhanced by pre-irradiation at 550 °C and post-irradiation annealing at 600 °C, which also leads to the observation of room temperature visible photoluminescence. (paper)

Surface tension and density of Si-Ge melts

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci, Enrica; Amore, Stefano; Giuranno, Donatella; Novakovic, Rada; Tuissi, Ausonio; Sobczak, Natalia; Nowak, Rafal; Korpala, Bartłomiej; Bruzda, Grzegorz

2014-06-01

In this work, the surface tension and density of Si-Ge liquid alloys were determined by the pendant drop method. Over the range of measurements, both properties show a linear temperature dependence and a nonlinear concentration dependence. Indeed, the density decreases with increasing silicon content exhibiting positive deviation from ideality, while the surface tension increases and deviates negatively with respect to the ideal solution model. Taking into account the Si-Ge phase diagram, a simple lens type, the surface tension behavior of the Si-Ge liquid alloys was analyzed in the framework of the Quasi-Chemical Approximation for the Regular Solutions model. The new experimental results were compared with a few data available in the literature, obtained by the containerless method.

Efficient tunable luminescence of SiGe alloy sheet polymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogg, G.; Meyer, A. J.-P.; Miesner, C.; Brandt, M. S.; Stutzmann, M.

2001-01-01

Crystalline SiGe alloy sheet polymers were topotactically prepared from epitaxially grown calcium germanosilicide Ca(Si 1-x Ge x ) 2 precursor films in the whole composition range. These polygermanosilynes are found to be a well-defined mixture of the known siloxene and polygermyne sheet polymers with the OH groups exclusively bonded to silicon. The optical properties determined by photoluminescence and optical reflection measurements identify the mixed SiGe sheet polymers as direct semiconductors with efficient luminescence tunable in the energy range between 2.4 and 1.3 eV. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

The cross-plane thermoelectric properties of p-Ge/Si0.5Ge0.5 superlattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferre Llin, L.; Samarelli, A.; Weaver, J. M. R.; Dobson, P. S.; Paul, D. J.; Cecchi, S.; Chrastina, D.; Isella, G.; Etzelstorfer, T.; Stangl, J.; Müller Gubler, E.

2013-01-01

The electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficients, and thermal conductivities of a range of p-type Ge/Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 superlattices designed for thermoelectric generation and grown by low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition have been measured using a range of microfabricated test structures. For samples with barriers around 0.5 nm in thickness, the measured Seebeck coefficients were comparable to bulk p-SiGe at similar doping levels suggesting the holes see the material as a random bulk alloy rather than a superlattice. The Seebeck coefficients for Ge quantum wells of 2.85 ± 0.85 nm increased up to 533 ± 25 μV/K as the doping was reduced. The thermal conductivities are between 4.5 to 6.0 Wm −1 K −1 which are lower than comparably doped bulk Si 0.3 Ge 0.7 but higher than undoped Si/Ge superlattices. The highest measured figure of merit ZT was 0.080 ± 0.011 obtained for the widest quantum well studied. Analysis suggests that interface roughness is presently limiting the performance and a reduction in the strain between the quantum wells and barriers has the potential to improve the thermoelectric performance

Transformation of point defects under annealing of neutron-irradiated Si and Si:Ge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pomozov, Yu.V.; Khirunenko, L.I.; Shakhovtsev, V.I.; Yashnik, V.I.

1990-01-01

Transformation of point radiation defects under isochronous annealing of neurton-irradaited Si and Si:Ge is studied. It is determined, that occurence of several new centers which produce A-centre range absorption bands is observed at annealing within 423-493 K temperature range. It is shown that vacancy and oxygen are included in the centers composition. It is found that VO centre transformation into VO 2 at annealing occurs via intermediate stage in contrast to that occuring in electron-irradiated crystals via VO direct diffusion to interstitial oxygen. Transformation of centers under Si ansd Si:Ge annealing occurs similarly

Atomistic simulations of thermal transport in Si and SiGe based materials: From bulk to nanostructures

Science.gov (United States)

Savic, Ivana; Mingo, Natalio; Donadio, Davide; Galli, Giulia

2010-03-01

It has been recently proposed that Si and SiGe based nanostructured materials may exhibit low thermal conductivity and overall promising properties for thermoelectric applications. Hence there is a considerable interest in developing accurate theoretical and computational methods which can help interpret recent measurements, identify the physical origin of the reduced thermal conductivity, as well as shed light on the interplay between disorder and nanostructuring in determining a high figure of merit. In this work, we investigate the capability of an atomistic Green's function method [1] to describe phonon transport in several types of Si and SiGe based systems: amorphous Si, SiGe alloys, planar and nanodot Si/SiGe multilayers. We compare our results with experimental data [2,3], and with the findings of molecular dynamics simulations and calculations based on the Boltzmann transport equation. [1] I. Savic, N. Mingo, and D. A. Stewart, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 165502 (2008). [2] S.-M. Lee, D. G. Cahill, and R. Venkatasubramanian, Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 2957 (1997). [3] G. Pernot et al., submitted.

Thermoelectric cross-plane properties on p- and n-Ge/Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} superlattices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferre Llin, L.; Samarelli, A. [University of Glasgow, School of Engineering, Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LT (United Kingdom); Cecchi, S.; Chrastina, D.; Isella, G. [L-NESS, Politecnico di Milano, Via Anzani 42, 22100 Como (Italy); Müller Gubler, E. [ETH, Electron Microscopy ETH Zurich, Wolgang-Pauli-Str. Ch-8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Etzelstorfer, T.; Stangl, J. [Johannes Kepler Universität, Institute of Semiconductor and Solid State Physics, A-4040 Linz (Austria); Paul, D.J., E-mail: Douglas.Paul@glasgow.ac.uk [University of Glasgow, School of Engineering, Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LT (United Kingdom)

2016-03-01

Silicon and germanium materials have demonstrated an increasing attraction for energy harvesting, due to their sustainability and integrability with complementary metal oxide semiconductor and micro-electro-mechanical-system technology. The thermoelectric efficiencies for these materials, however, are very poor at room temperature and so it is necessary to engineer them in order to compete with telluride based materials, which have demonstrated at room temperature the highest performances in literature [1]. Micro-fabricated devices consisting of mesa structures with integrated heaters, thermometers and Ohmic contacts were used to extract the cross-plane values of the Seebeck coefficient and the thermal conductivity from p- and n-Ge/Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1-x} superlattices. A second device consisting in a modified circular transfer line method structure was used to extract the electrical conductivity of the materials. A range of p-Ge/Si{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5} superlattices with different doping levels was investigated in detail to determine the role of the doping density in dictating the thermoelectric properties. A second set of n-Ge/Si{sub 0.3}Ge{sub 0.7} superlattices was fabricated to study the impact that quantum well thickness might have on the two thermoelectric figures of merit, and also to demonstrate a further reduction of the thermal conductivity by scattering phonons at different wavelengths. This technique has demonstrated to lower the thermal conductivity by a 25% by adding different barrier thicknesses per period. - Highlights: • Growth of epitaxial Ge/SiGe superlattices on Si substrates as energy harvesters • Study of cross-plane thermoelectric properties of Ge/SiGe superlattices at 300 K • Thermoelectric figures of merit studied as a function of doping density • Phonon scattering at different wavelengths to reduce thermal transport.

Combined RBS and TEM characterization of nano-SiGe layers embedded in SiO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kling, A.; Ortiz, M.I.; Sangrador, J.; Rodriguez, A.; Rodriguez, T.; Ballesteros, C.; Soares, J.C.

2006-01-01

Grazing incidence RBS has been tested as a technique to detect and characterize SiGe nanoparticles embedded in a SiO 2 matrix. Suitable structures were deposited by low pressure chemical vapour deposition and characterized by TEM and RBS. The layers containing nanoparticles have been modelled by stacks of sublayers consisting of SiGeO layers with compositions calculated according to presumed shapes, sizes, Si/Ge ratios and particle area densities and used as input for RUMP. The nanoparticle parameters obtained by fitting the experimental RBS spectra agree well with the findings by TEM. This demonstrates that RBS is a useful and fast technique to characterize this kind of structures

Growth and characterization of Ge nanostructures selectively grown on patterned Si

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, M.H.; Ni, W.X.; Luo, G.L.; Huang, S.C.; Chang, J.J.; Lee, C.Y.

2008-01-01

By utilizing different distribution of strain fields around the edges of oxide, which are dominated by a series of sizes of oxide-patterned windows, long-range ordered self-assembly Ge nanostructures, such as nano-rings, nano-disks and nano-dots, were selectively grown by ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) on Si (001) substrates. High-resolution double-crystal symmetrical ω/2θ scans and two-dimensional reciprocal space mapping (2D-RSM) technologies employing the triple axis X-ray diffractometry have been used to evaluate the quality and strain status of as-deposited as well as in-situ annealed Ge nanostructures. Furthermore, we also compare the quality and strain status of Ge epilayers grown on planar unpatterned Si substrates. It was found that the quality of all Ge epitaxial structures is improved after in-situ annealing process and the quality of Ge nano-disk structures is better than that of Ge epilayers on planar unpatterned Si substrates, because oxide sidewalls are effective dislocation sinks. We also noted that the degree of relaxation for as-deposited Ge epilayers on planar unpatterned Si substrates is less than that for as-deposited Ge nano-disk structures. After in-situ annealing process, all Ge epitaxial structures are almost at full relaxation whatever Ge epitaxial structures grew on patterned or unpatterned Si substrates

Muonium hyperfine parameters in Si1-x Ge x alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, Philip; Lichti, Roger; Cottrell, Stephen; Yonenaga, Ichiro

2006-01-01

We present studies of muonium behaviour in bulk, Czochralski-grown Si 1- x Ge x alloy material, focusing in particular on the hyperfine parameter of the tetrahedral muonium species. In contrast to the bond-centred species, the hyperfine parameter of the tetrahedral-site muonium centre (Mu T ) appears to vary non-linearly with alloy composition. The temperature dependence of the Mu T hyperfine parameter observed in low-Ge alloy material is compared with that seen in pure Si, and previous models of the Mu T behaviour in Si are discussed in the light of results from Si 1- x Ge x alloys

Ge-on-Si : Single-Crystal Selective Epitaxial Growth in a CVD Reactor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sammak, A.; De Boer, W.B.; Nanver, L.K.

2012-01-01

A standard Si/SiGe ASM CVD reactor that was recently modified for merging GaAs and Si epitaxial growth in one system is utilized to achieve intrinsic and doped epitaxial Ge-on-Si with low threading dislocation and defect densities. For this purpose, the system is equipped with 2% diluted GeH4 as the

Thermal transport through Ge-rich Ge/Si superlattices grown on Ge(0 0 1)

Science.gov (United States)

Thumfart, L.; Carrete, J.; Vermeersch, B.; Ye, N.; Truglas, T.; Feser, J.; Groiss, H.; Mingo, N.; Rastelli, A.

2018-01-01

The cross-plane thermal conductivities of Ge-rich Si/Ge superlattices have been measured using both time-domain thermoreflectance and the differential 3ω method. The superlattices were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on Ge(0 0 1) substrates. Crystal quality and structural information were investigated by x-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. The influence of segregation during growth on the composition profiles was modeled using the experimental growth temperatures and deposition rates. Those profiles were then employed to obtain parameter-free theoretical estimates of the thermal conductivity by combining first-principles calculations, Boltzmann transport theory and phonon Green’s functions. Good agreement between theory and experiment is observed. The thermal conductivity shows a strong dependence on the composition and the thickness of the samples. Moreover, the importance of the composition profile is reflected in the fact that the thermal conductivity of the superlattices is considerably lower than predicted values for alloys with the same average composition and thickness. Measurement on different samples with the same Si layer thickness and number of periods, but different Ge layer thickness, show that the thermal resistance is only weakly dependent on the Ge layers. We analyze this phenomenon based on the first-principles mode, and build an approximate parametrization showing that, in this regime, the resistivity of a SL is roughly linear on the amount of Si.

(Gd1−xErx)5Si2Ge2 compounds

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Gd metal (3 N) by arc melting, and then annealed at 1523 K (3 h). The phase, microstructure, Curie ... The temperature of magnetic transition decreases linearly from 281 K to 177 K with the increase of Er content from x = 0–0·2. ... Gd5Si2Ge2 serial compounds, different rare earth elements substituted for Gd in Gd5(Six ...

Significant reduction of thermal conductivity in Si/Ge core-shell nanowires.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Ming; Giapis, Konstantinos P; Goicochea, Javier V; Zhang, Xiaoliang; Poulikakos, Dimos

2011-02-09

We report on the effect of germanium (Ge) coatings on the thermal transport properties of silicon (Si) nanowires using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that a simple deposition of a Ge shell of only 1 to 2 unit cells in thickness on a single crystalline Si nanowire can lead to a dramatic 75% decrease in thermal conductivity at room temperature compared to an uncoated Si nanowire. By analyzing the vibrational density states of phonons and the participation ratio of each specific mode, we demonstrate that the reduction in the thermal conductivity of Si/Ge core-shell nanowire stems from the depression and localization of long-wavelength phonon modes at the Si/Ge interface and of high frequency nonpropagating diffusive modes.

Alleviation of Fermi level pinning at metal/n-Ge interface with lattice-matched Si x Ge1‑ x ‑ y Sn y ternary alloy interlayer on Ge

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Akihiro; Nakatsuka, Osamu; Sakashita, Mitsuo; Zaima, Shigeaki

2018-06-01

The impact of a silicon germanium tin (Si x Ge1‑ x ‑ y Sn y ) ternary alloy interlayer on the Schottky barrier height (SBH) of metal/Ge contacts with various metal work functions has been investigated. Lattice matching at the Si x Ge1‑ x ‑ y Sn y /Ge heterointerface is a key factor for controlling Fermi level pinning (FLP) at the metal/Ge interface. The Si x Ge1‑ x ‑ y Sn y ternary alloy interlayer having a small lattice mismatch with the Ge substrate can alleviate FLP at the metal/Ge interface significantly. A Si0.11Ge0.86Sn0.03 interlayer increases the slope parameter for the work function dependence of the SBH to 0.4. An ohmic behavior with an SBH below 0.15 eV can be obtained with Zr and Al/Si0.11Ge0.86Sn0.03/n-Ge contacts at room temperature.

Structural transformation in mechanosynthesized bcc Fe-Al-Si(Ge) solid solutions during heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubalova, L.M.; Sviridov, I.A.; Vasilyeva, O.Ya.; Fadeeva, V.I.

2007-01-01

X-ray diffractometry and Moessbauer spectroscopy study of Fe 50 Al 25 Si 25 and Fe 50 Al 25 Ge 25 alloys obtained by mechanical alloying (MA) of elementary powders was carried out. Phase transformation during heating of synthesized products was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). After 2.5 h of MA monophase alloys containing bcc Fe(Al, Ge) solid solutions Fe(Al, Si) are formed. Fe(Al, Si) is partially ordered B2 type and Fe(Al, Ge) is completely disordered. DSC curves of synthesized alloys displayed the presence of exothermal peaks caused by phase transformation. The metastable Fe(Al, Si) solid solution transformed into FeAl 1-x Si x (B2) and FeSi 1-x Al x (B20) equilibrium phases. The Fe(Al, Ge) solid solution transformed into equilibrium phases through intermediate stage of Fe 6 Ge 3 Al 2 metastable phase formation. The Fe 6 Ge 3 Al 2 phase dissociated into three equilibrium phases: FeAl 1-x Ge x (B2), χ-Fe 6 Ge 5 and η-Fe 13 (Ge, Al) 8 (B8 2 ). The structure of Fe 6 Ge 3 Al 2 was calculated by Rietveld method, the distribution of Al and Ge in the elementary cell and its parameters were calculated. Moessbauer study showed that Fe(Al, Si) and Fe(Al, Ge) solid solutions are paramagnetic. In the equilibrium state the alloy containing Si is also paramagnetic while the alloy with Ge showed ferromagnetic properties

Spectroscopic Studies of Semiconductor Materials for Aggressive-scaled Micro- and Opto-electronic Devices: nc-SiO2, GeO2; ng-Si, Ge and ng-Transition metal (TM) oxides

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Cheng

Non-crystalline thin film materials are widely used in the semiconductor industry (micro- and optoelectronics) and in green energy, e.g., photovolatic applications. This dissertation under-pins these device application with studies of their electronic structures using derivative X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) and derivative Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) for the first time to experimentally determine electronic and intrinsic defect structures. Differences between electron and hole mobilities in c- (and ng-Si) and c- (and ng- Ge), make Ge channels superior to Si channels in for aggressively scaled CMOS field effect transistors (FETs). Bonding between Si and Ge substrates and gate dielectric oxides is the focus this dissertation. The primary objective of this research is to measure and interpret by ab-initio theory the electronic and intrinsic electronic defect structures mirco-electronic thin film materials. This is accomplished for the first time by combining (i) derivative XAS TEY data obtained at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source (SSRL) with (ii) derivative Spectroscopic Ellipsometry results obtained at the J.A. Woollam Co. laboratory. All the oxides were deposited in RPECVD system with in-line AES and RHEED. Thins films and gate stacks were annealed in RTA system in Ar to determine temperature dependent changes. 2nd derivative analysis is applied on XAS and SE spectra emphasizing the conduction band (CB) and virtual bound state (VBS) regimes. 2nd derivative SE spectra for ng-Si and ng-Ge each have 3 distinct regimes: (i) 3 excitons, (ii) 2 features in the CB edge region, and (iii) 3 additional exciton features above the IP. Excitonic spectral width provides conductivity electron masses (em0*) and hence electron mobilities. The wider the energy range, the higher the electron mobility in that CB. Spectra of high-K dielectrics have an additional energy regime between the CB edge regime, and the higher eV excitons. This regime has 4 intra-d state

On the radiative recombination and tunneling of charge carriers in SiGe/Si heterostructures with double quantum wells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yablonsky, A. N., E-mail: yablonsk@ipmras.ru; Zhukavin, R. Kh.; Bekin, N. A.; Novikov, A. V.; Yurasov, D. V.; Shaleev, M. V. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Physics of Microstructures (Russian Federation)

2016-12-15

For SiGe/Si(001) epitaxial structures with two nonequivalent SiGe quantum wells separated by a thin Si barrier, the spectral and time characteristics of interband photoluminescence corresponding to the radiative recombination of excitons in quantum wells are studied. For a series of structures with two SiGe quantum wells different in width, the characteristic time of tunneling of charge carriers (holes) from the narrow quantum well, distinguished by a higher exciton recombination energy, to the wide quantum well is determined as a function of the Si barrier thickness. It is shown that the time of tunneling of holes between the Si{sub 0.8}5Ge{sub 0.15} layers with thicknesses of 3 and 9 nm steadily decreases from ~500 to <5 ns, as the Si barrier thickness is reduced from 16 to 8 nm. At intermediate Si barrier thicknesses, an increase in the photoluminescence signal from the wide quantum well is observed, with a characteristic time of the same order of magnitude as the luminescence decay time of the narrow quantum well. This supports the observation of the effect of the tunneling of holes from the narrow to the wide quantum well. A strong dependence of the tunneling time of holes on the Ge content in the SiGe layers at the same thickness of the Si barrier between quantum wells is observed, which is attributed to an increase in the effective Si barrier height.

Diffusion Mechanisms and Lattice Locations of Thermal-Equilibrium Defects in Si-Ge Alloys

CERN Multimedia

Lyutovich, K; Touboltsev, V; Laitinen, P O; Strohm, A

2002-01-01

It is generally accepted that Ge and Si differ considerably with respect to intrinsic-point-defect-mediated diffusion. In Ge, the native point defects dominating under thermal-equilibium conditions at all solid-state temperatures accessible in diffusion experiments are vacancies, and therefore Ge self-diffusion is vacancy-controlled. In Si, by contrast, self-interstitials and vacancies co-exist in thermal equilibrium. Whereas in the most thoroughly investigated temperature regime above about 1000$^\\circ$C Si self-diffusion is self-interstitial-controlled, it is vacancy-controlled at lower temperatures. According to the scenario displayed above, self-diffusion in Si-Ge alloys is expected to change from an interstitialcy mechanism on the Si side to a vacancy mechanism on the Ge side. Therefore, $^{71}$Ge self-diffusion experiments in Si$_{1- \\it y}$Ge$_{\\it y}$ as a function of composition Y are highly interesting. In a first series of experiments the diffusion of Ge in 0.4 to 10 $\\mu$m thick, relaxed, low-disl...

Reduced thermal conductivity due to scattering centers in p-type SiGe alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beaty, J.S.; Rolfe, J.L.; Vandersande, J.; Fleurial. J.P.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that a theoretical model has been developed that predicts that the addition of ultra-fine, inert, phonon-scattering centers to SiGe thermoelectric material will reduce its thermal conductivity and improve its figure-of-merit. To investigate this prediction, ultra-fine particulates (20 Angstrom to 200 Angstrom) of boron nitride have been added to boron doped, p-type, 80/20 SiGe. All previous SiGe samples produced from ultra-fine SiGe powder without additions had lower thermal conductivities than standard SiGe, but high temperature (1525 K) heat treatment increased their thermal conductivity back to the value for standard SiGe. Transmission Electron Microscopy has been used to confirm the presence of occluded particulates and X-ray diffraction has been used to determine the composition to be BN

Simulation of thermal stress and buckling instability in Si/Ge and Ge/Si core/shell nanowires.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Suvankar; Moitra, Amitava; Bhattacharya, Mishreyee; Dutta, Amlan

2015-01-01

The present study employs the method of atomistic simulation to estimate the thermal stress experienced by Si/Ge and Ge/Si, ultrathin, core/shell nanowires with fixed ends. The underlying technique involves the computation of Young's modulus and the linear coefficient of thermal expansion through separate simulations. These two material parameters are combined to obtain the thermal stress on the nanowires. In addition, the thermally induced stress is perceived in the context of buckling instability. The analysis provides a trade-off between the geometrical and operational parameters of the nanostructures. The proposed methodology can be extended to other materials and structures and helps with the prediction of the conditions under which a nanowire-based device might possibly fail due to elastic instability.

Electronic and magnetic properties of Si substituted Fe3Ge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shanavas, K. V.; McGuire, Michael A.; Parker, David S.

2015-01-01

Using first principles calculations, we studied the effect of Si substitution in the hexagonal Fe 3 Ge. We find the low temperature magnetic anisotropy in this system to be planar and originating mostly from the spin-orbit coupling in Fe-d states. Reduction of the unitcell volume reduces the magnitude of in-plane magnetic anisotropy, eventually turning it positive which reorients the magnetic moments to the axial direction. Substituting Ge with the smaller Si ions also increases the anisotropy, potentially enhancing the region of stability of the axial magnetization, which is beneficial for magnetic applications such as permanent magnets. Our experimental measurements on samples of Fe 3 Ge 1−x Si x confirm these predictions and show that substitution of about 6% of the Ge with Si increases by approximately 35 K the temperature range over which anisotropy is uniaxial

Silicon Based Mid Infrared SiGeSn Heterostructure Emitters and Detectors

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-16

AFRL-AFOSR-JP-TR-2016-0054 Silicon based mid infrared SiGeSn heterostrcture emitters and detectors Greg Sun UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS Final Report... Silicon Based Mid Infrared SiGeSn Heterostructure Emitters and Detectors ” February 10, 2016 Principal Investigator: Greg Sun Engineering...diodes are incompatible with the CMOS process and therefore cannot be easily integrated with Si electronics . The GeSn mid IR detectors developed in

Thermal conductivity of hexagonal Si, Ge, and Si1-xGex alloys from first-principles

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Xiaokun; Zhao, C. Y.

2018-05-01

Hexagonal Si and Ge with a lonsdaleite crystal structure are allotropes of silicon and germanium that have recently been synthesized. These materials as well as their alloys are promising candidates for novel applications in optoelectronics. In this paper, we systematically study the phonon transport and thermal conductivity of hexagonal Si, Ge, and their alloys by using the first-principle-based Peierls-Boltzmann transport equation approach. Both three-phonon and four-phonon scatterings are taken into account in the calculations as the phonon scattering mechanisms. The thermal conductivity anisotropy of these materials is identified. While the thermal conductivity parallel to the hexagonal plane for hexagonal Si and Ge is found to be larger than that perpendicular to the hexagonal plane, alloying effectively tunes the thermal conductivity anisotropy by suppressing the thermal conductivity contributions from the middle-frequency phonons. The importance of four-phonon scatterings is assessed by comparing the results with the calculations without including four-phonon scatterings. We find that four-phonon scatterings cannot be ignored in hexagonal Si and Ge as the thermal conductivity would be overestimated by around 10% (40%) at 300 K (900) K. In addition, the phonon mean free path distribution of hexagonal Si, Ge, and their alloys is also discussed.

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

Science.gov (United States)

Abidin, Mastura Shafinaz Zainal; Morshed, Tahsin; Chikita, Hironori; Kinoshita, Yuki; Muta, Shunpei; Anisuzzaman, Mohammad; Park, Jong-Hyeok; Matsumura, Ryo; Mahmood, Mohamad Rusop; Sadoh, Taizoh; Hashim, Abdul Manaf

2014-01-01

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. PMID:28788521

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mastura Shafinaz Zainal Abidin

2014-02-01

Full Text Available 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 ~400 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.

Monolithic integration of AlGaInP laser diodes on SiGe/Si substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, O.; Boeckl, J. J.; Lee, M. L.; Pitera, A. J.; Fitzgerald, E. A.; Ringel, S. A.

2006-01-01

Room temperature operation of visible AlGaInP laser diodes epitaxially integrated on Si was demonstrated. Compressively strained laser heterostructures were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on low dislocation density SiGe/Si substrates, where the threading dislocation density of the top relaxed Ge layers was measured in the range of 2x10 6 cm -2 . A threshold current density of J th ∼1.65 kA/cm 2 for the as-cleaved, gain-guided AlGaInP laser grown on SiGe/Si was obtained at the peak emission wavelength of 680 nm under pulsed mode current injection. These results show that not only can high quality AlGaInP materials grown by MBE be achieved on Si via relaxed SiGe interlayers, but the prototype demonstration of laser diode operation on Si illustrates that very defect sensitive optoelectronics in the III-P system can indeed be integrated with Si substrates by heteroepitaxial methods

Internal photoemission study on charge trapping behavior in rapid thermal oxides on strained-Si/SiGe heterolayers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bera, M.K.; Mahata, C.; Bhattacharya, S.; Chakraborty, A.K.; Armstrong, B.M.; Gamble, H.S.; Maiti, C.K.

2008-01-01

A comparative study on the nature of defects and their relationship to charge trapping with enhanced photosensitivity has been investigated through magnetic resonance and internal photoemission (IPE) experiments for rapid thermal grown oxides (RTO) on strained-Si/Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 and on co-processed bulk-Si (1 0 0) substrates. Both the band and defect-related electronic states were characterized through EPR, IPE, C-V and I-V measurements under UV-illumination. Surface chemical characterization of as-grown ultrathin oxides (5-7 nm) has been performed using high-resolution XPS. Enhancement in Ge-segregation with increasing oxidation temperature is reported. Comparative studies on interface properties and leakage current behavior of rapid thermal oxides have also been studied through fabricating metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor structures. A degraded electrical property with increasing oxidation temperature is reported. Constant voltage stressing (CVS) in the range of 5.5-7 V was used to study the breakdown characteristics of different samples. We observe a distinguishably different time-to-breakdown (t bd ) phenomenon for bulk-Si and strained-Si/SiGe samples. Whereas the oxide on bulk-Si shows a typical breakdown behavior, the RTO grown oxide on strained-Si/SiGe samples showed a quasi-or soft-breakdown with lower t bd value. It may be pointed out that quasi-breakdown may be a stronger reliability limiting factor for strained-Si/SiGe devices in the oxide thickness range studied

Microscopic parameters of heterostructures containing nanoclusters and thin layers of Ge in Si matrix

CERN Document Server

Erenburg, S B; Stepina, N P; Nikiforov, A I; Nenashev, A V; Mazalov, L N

2001-01-01

GeK XAFS measurements have been performed using the total electron yield detection mode for pseudomorphous Ge films deposited on Si(0 0 1) substrate via molecular beam epitaxy at 300 deg. C. The samples have been produced by thrice repeating the growing procedure separated by deposition of blocking Si layers at 500 deg. C. The local microstructure parameters (interatomic distances, Ge coordination numbers) are linked to nanostructure morphology and adequate models are suggested and discussed. It was established that pseudomorphous 4-monolayer Ge films contain 50% of Si atoms on the average. Pyramid-like, pure Ge islands formed in the Stranski-Krastanov growth are characterized by the interatomic Ge-Ge distances of 2.41 A (by 0.04 A less than in bulk Ge) and the Ge-Si distances of 2.37 A. It was revealed that the pure Ge nanoclusters are covered by a 1-2-monolayer film with admixture on the average of a 50% Si atom impurity from blocking Si layers.

Epitaxial Ge Solar Cells Directly Grown on Si (001) by MOCVD Using Isobutylgermane

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngjo; Kim, Kangho; Lee, Jaejin; Kim, Chang Zoo; Kang, Ho Kwan; Park, Won-Kyu

2018-03-01

Epitaxial Ge layers have been grown on Si (001) substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using an isobutylgermane (IBuGe) metalorganic source. Low and high temperature two-step growth and post annealing techniques are employed to overcome the lattice mismatch problem between Ge and Si. It is demonstrated that high quality Ge epitaxial layers can be grown on Si (001) by using IBuGe with surface RMS roughness of 2 nm and an estimated threading dislocation density of 4.9 × 107 cm -2. Furthermore, single-junction Ge solar cells have been directly grown on Si substrates with an in situ MOCVD growth. The epitaxial Ge p- n junction structures are investigated with transmission electron microscopy and electrochemical C- V measurements. As a result, a power conversion efficiency of 1.69% was achieved for the Ge solar cell directly grown on Si substrate under AM1.5G condition.

Superconducting single electron transistor for charge sensing in Si/SiGe-based quantum dots

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhen

Si-based quantum devices, including Si/SiGe quantum dots (QD), are promising candidates for spin-based quantum bits (quits), which are a potential platform for quantum information processing. Meanwhile, qubit readout remains a challenging task related to semiconductor-based quantum computation. This thesis describes two readout devices for Si/SiGe QDs and the techniques for developing them from a traditional single electron transistor (SET). By embedding an SET in a tank circuit and operating it in the radio-frequency (RF) regime, a superconducting RF-SET has quick response as well as ultra high charge sensitivity and can be an excellent charge sensor for the QDs. We demonstrate such RF-SETs for QDs in a Si/SiGe heterostructure. Characterization of the SET in magnetic fields is studied for future exploration of advanced techniques such as spin detection and spin state manipulation. By replacing the tank circuit with a high-quality-factor microwave cavity, the embedded SET will be operated in the supercurrent regime as a single Cooper pair transistor (CPT) to further increase the charge sensitivity and reduce any dissipation. The operating principle and implementation of the cavity-embedded CPT (cCPT) will be introduced.

Surface Morphology Transformation Under High-Temperature Annealing of Ge Layers Deposited on Si(100).

Science.gov (United States)

Shklyaev, A A; Latyshev, A V

2016-12-01

We study the surface morphology and chemical composition of SiGe layers after their formation under high-temperature annealing at 800-1100 °C of 30-150 nm Ge layers deposited on Si(100) at 400-500 °C. It is found that the annealing leads to the appearance of the SiGe layers of two types, i.e., porous and continuous. The continuous layers have a smoothened surface morphology and a high concentration of threading dislocations. The porous and continuous layers can coexist. Their formation conditions and the ratio between their areas on the surface depend on the thickness of deposited Ge layers, as well as on the temperature and the annealing time. The data obtained suggest that the porous SiGe layers are formed due to melting of the strained Ge layers and their solidification in the conditions of SiGe dewetting on Si. The porous and dislocation-rich SiGe layers may have properties interesting for applications.

Properties of three-dimensional structures prepared by Ge dewetting from Si(111) at high temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shklyaev, Alexander, E-mail: shklyaev@isp.nsc.ru [A. V. Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, SB RAS, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk 630090 (Russian Federation); Bolotov, Leonid; Poborchii, Vladimir; Tada, Tetsuya [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8562 (Japan)

2015-05-28

The formation of three-dimensional (3D) structures during Ge deposition on Si(111) at about 800 °C is studied with scanning tunneling, Kelvin probe and electron microscopies, and scanning tunneling and Raman spectroscopies. The observed surface morphology is formed by dewetting of Ge from Si(111), since it occurs mainly by means of minimization of surface and interfacial energies. The dewetting proceeds through massive Si eroding around growing 3D structures, providing them to be composed of SiGe with about a 30% Ge content, and leads to the significant reduction of the SiGe/Si interface area. It is found that the SiGe top component of 3D structures forms sharp interfaces with the underlying Si. The minimization of interfacial and strain energies occurs on the way that the 3D structures appear to get the dendrite-like shape. The Ge distribution in the 3D SiGe structures is inhomogeneous in the lateral dimension with a higher Ge concentration in their central areas and Ge segregation on their surface.

Properties of three-dimensional structures prepared by Ge dewetting from Si(111) at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shklyaev, Alexander; Bolotov, Leonid; Poborchii, Vladimir; Tada, Tetsuya

2015-01-01

The formation of three-dimensional (3D) structures during Ge deposition on Si(111) at about 800 °C is studied with scanning tunneling, Kelvin probe and electron microscopies, and scanning tunneling and Raman spectroscopies. The observed surface morphology is formed by dewetting of Ge from Si(111), since it occurs mainly by means of minimization of surface and interfacial energies. The dewetting proceeds through massive Si eroding around growing 3D structures, providing them to be composed of SiGe with about a 30% Ge content, and leads to the significant reduction of the SiGe/Si interface area. It is found that the SiGe top component of 3D structures forms sharp interfaces with the underlying Si. The minimization of interfacial and strain energies occurs on the way that the 3D structures appear to get the dendrite-like shape. The Ge distribution in the 3D SiGe structures is inhomogeneous in the lateral dimension with a higher Ge concentration in their central areas and Ge segregation on their surface

Amorphous SiOx nanowires catalyzed by metallic Ge for optoelectronic applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Tianxiao; Chen Zhigang; Wu Yueqin; Lin Jianhui; Zhang Jiuzhan; Fan Yongliang; Yang Xinju; Jiang Zuimin; Zou Jin

2011-01-01

Research highlights: → Metallic Ge has been demonstrated as an effective catalyst for the growth of SiO x nanowires on Si substrates. → Such a catalyst may avoid catalyst contamination caused by their unconsciousness left in the nanowires. → Two broad peaks centered at 410 nm and 570 nm were observed in photoluminescence spectrum, indicating that such SiO x nanowires have the potential applications in white light-emitting diodes, full-colour display, full-colour indicator and light sources. - Abstract: Amorphous SiO x nanowires, with diameters of ∼20 nm and lengths of tens of μm, were grown from self-organized GeSi quantum dots or GeSi alloy epilayers on Si substrates. The morphologies and yield of these amorphous nanowires depend strongly upon the synthesis temperature. Comparative experiments indicate that the present SiO x nanowires are induced by metallic Ge as catalysts via the solid liquid solid growth mechanism. Two broad peaks centered at 410 nm and 570 nm were observed in photoluminescence spectrum, indicating that such SiO x nanowires have the potential applications in white light-emitting diodes, full-colour display, full-colour indicator and light sources.

Dislocation reduction in heteroepitaxial Ge on Si using SiO{sub 2} lined etch pits and epitaxial lateral overgrowth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leonhardt, Darin; Han, Sang M. [Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States)

2011-09-12

We report a technique that significantly reduces threading dislocations in Ge on Si heteroepitaxy. Germanium is first grown on Si and etched to produce pits in the surface where threading dislocations terminate. Further processing leaves a layer of SiO{sub 2} only within etch pits. Subsequent selective epitaxial Ge growth results in coalescence above the SiO{sub 2}. The SiO{sub 2} blocks the threading dislocations from propagating into the upper Ge epilayer. With annealed Ge films grown on Si, the said method reduces the defect density from 2.6 x 10{sup 8} to 1.7 x 10{sup 6} cm{sup -2}, potentially making the layer suitable for electronic and photovoltaic devices.

Sc-W-Si and Sc-W-Ge ternary systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotur, B.Ya.; Voznyak, O.M.; Bodak, O.I.

1989-01-01

Phase equilibria in Sc-W-Si and Sc-W-Ge ternary systems are investigated at 1070 K. Sc 2+x W 3-x Si 4 ternary compound (0≤x≤1) is determined, its crystal structure (Ce 2 Sc 3 Si 4 structural type), as well as, change of elementary cell parameters and microhardness within homogeneity range are determined. Regularities of component interaction within Sc-M-Si(Ge) (M-Cr, Mo, W) ternary system are determined. Ternary systems with Mo and W are more closer to each other according to the phase equilibria character, than to ternary systems with Cr

Selective Etching of Silicon in Preference to Germanium and Si0.5Ge0.5.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahles, Christopher F; Choi, Jong Youn; Wolf, Steven; Kummel, Andrew C

2017-06-21

The selective etching characteristics of silicon, germanium, and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 subjected to a downstream H 2 /CF 4 /Ar plasma have been studied using a pair of in situ quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). At 50 °C and 760 mTorr, Si can be etched in preference to Ge and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 , with an essentially infinite Si/Ge etch-rate ratio (ERR), whereas for Si/Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 , the ERR is infinite at 22 °C and 760 mTorr. XPS data showed that the selectivity is due to the differential suppression of etching by a ∼2 ML thick C x H y F z layer formed by the H 2 /CF 4 /Ar plasma on Si, Ge, and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 . The data are consistent with the less exothermic reaction of fluorine radicals with Ge or Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 being strongly suppressed by the C x H y F z layer, whereas, on Si, the C x H y F z layer is not sufficient to completely suppress etching. Replacing H 2 with D 2 in the feed gas resulted in an inverse kinetic isotope effect (IKIE) where the Si and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 etch rates were increased by ∼30 times with retention of significant etch selectivity. The use of D 2 /CF 4 /Ar instead of H 2 /CF 4 /Ar resulted in less total carbon deposition on Si and Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 and gave less Ge enrichment of Si 0.5 Ge 0.5 . These results are consistent with the selectivity being due to the differential suppression of etching by an angstrom-scale carbon layer.

FEM for modelling 193 nm excimer laser treatment of SiO{sub 2}/Si/Si{sub (1-x)}Ge{sub x} heterostructures on SOI substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conde, J.C.; Chiussi, S.; Gontad, F.; Gonzalez, P. [Dpto. Fisica Aplicada, E.T.S.I.I. University of Vigo, Campus Universitario, Rua Maxwell s/n, 36310 Vigo (Spain); Martin, E. [Dpto. de Mecanica, Maquinas, Motores Termicos y Fluidos, E.T.S.I.I. University of Vigo, Campus Universitario, Rua Maxwell s/n, 36310 Vigo (Spain)

2011-03-15

Research on epitaxial crystalline silicon (c-Si) and silicon-germanium (Si{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x}) alloys growth and annealing for microelectronic purposes, such as Micro- or Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS or NEMS) and Silicon-On-Nothing (SON) devices is continuously in progress. Laser assisted annealing techniques using commercial ArF Excimer Laser sources are based on ultra-rapid heating and cooling cycles induced by the 193 nm pulses of 20 ns, which are absorbed in the near surface region of the heterostructures. During and after the absorption of these laser pulses, complex physical processes appear that strongly depend on sample structure and applied laser pulse energy densities. The control of the experimental parameters is therefore a key task for obtaining high quality alloys. The Finite ElementsMethod (FEM) is a powerful tool for the optimization of such treatments, because it provides the spatial and temporal temperature fields that are produced by the laser pulses. In this work, we have used a FEM commercial software, to predict the temperatures gradients induced by ArF excimer laser over a wide energy densities range, 0.1<{phi}<0.4 J/cm{sup 2}, on different SiO{sub 2}/Si/Si{sub (1-x)}Ge{sub (x)} thin films deposited on SOI substrate. These numerical results allow us to predict the threshold energies needed to reach the melting point (MP) of the Si and SiGe alloy without oxidation of the thin films system. Therefore, it is possible to optimize the conditions to achieve high quality epitaxy films. (copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Monolithic Ge-on-Si lasers for large-scale electronic-photonic integration

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jifeng; Kimerling, Lionel C.; Michel, Jurgen

2012-09-01

A silicon-based monolithic laser source has long been envisioned as a key enabling component for large-scale electronic-photonic integration in future generations of high-performance computation and communication systems. In this paper we present a comprehensive review on the development of monolithic Ge-on-Si lasers for this application. Starting with a historical review of light emission from the direct gap transition of Ge dating back to the 1960s, we focus on the rapid progress in band-engineered Ge-on-Si lasers in the past five years after a nearly 30-year gap in this research field. Ge has become an interesting candidate for active devices in Si photonics in the past decade due to its pseudo-direct gap behavior and compatibility with Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing. In 2007, we proposed combing tensile strain with n-type doping to compensate the energy difference between the direct and indirect band gap of Ge, thereby achieving net optical gain for CMOS-compatible diode lasers. Here we systematically present theoretical modeling, material growth methods, spontaneous emission, optical gain, and lasing under optical and electrical pumping from band-engineered Ge-on-Si, culminated by recently demonstrated electrically pumped Ge-on-Si lasers with >1 mW output in the communication wavelength window of 1500-1700 nm. The broad gain spectrum enables on-chip wavelength division multiplexing. A unique feature of band-engineered pseudo-direct gap Ge light emitters is that the emission intensity increases with temperature, exactly opposite to conventional direct gap semiconductor light-emitting devices. This extraordinary thermal anti-quenching behavior greatly facilitates monolithic integration on Si microchips where temperatures can reach up to 80 °C during operation. The same band-engineering approach can be extended to other pseudo-direct gap semiconductors, allowing us to achieve efficient light emission at wavelengths previously

Monolithic Ge-on-Si lasers for large-scale electronic–photonic integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Jifeng; Kimerling, Lionel C; Michel, Jurgen

2012-01-01

A silicon-based monolithic laser source has long been envisioned as a key enabling component for large-scale electronic–photonic integration in future generations of high-performance computation and communication systems. In this paper we present a comprehensive review on the development of monolithic Ge-on-Si lasers for this application. Starting with a historical review of light emission from the direct gap transition of Ge dating back to the 1960s, we focus on the rapid progress in band-engineered Ge-on-Si lasers in the past five years after a nearly 30-year gap in this research field. Ge has become an interesting candidate for active devices in Si photonics in the past decade due to its pseudo-direct gap behavior and compatibility with Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processing. In 2007, we proposed combing tensile strain with n-type doping to compensate the energy difference between the direct and indirect band gap of Ge, thereby achieving net optical gain for CMOS-compatible diode lasers. Here we systematically present theoretical modeling, material growth methods, spontaneous emission, optical gain, and lasing under optical and electrical pumping from band-engineered Ge-on-Si, culminated by recently demonstrated electrically pumped Ge-on-Si lasers with >1 mW output in the communication wavelength window of 1500–1700 nm. The broad gain spectrum enables on-chip wavelength division multiplexing. A unique feature of band-engineered pseudo-direct gap Ge light emitters is that the emission intensity increases with temperature, exactly opposite to conventional direct gap semiconductor light-emitting devices. This extraordinary thermal anti-quenching behavior greatly facilitates monolithic integration on Si microchips where temperatures can reach up to 80 °C during operation. The same band-engineering approach can be extended to other pseudo-direct gap semiconductors, allowing us to achieve efficient light emission at wavelengths previously

RBS-study of GexSi1-x Compounds Formed by Variable Dose Ge Implantation into Si Wafers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramírez A.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Amorphous and relaxed epitaxial GeSi films are prepared by Ge-implantation into Si(111 wafers of both 60 keV and 200 keV energetic Ge+-ions with appropriate dose, followed by post-implantation thermal annealing, comprising a single final annealing at a temperature of 900 °C. The implantation dose was varied between 10(14 and 10(17 atoms cm-2. Rutherford backscattering (RBS and channeling analysis was applied in order to explore the formation of a single crystalline Si-Ge compound layer, both prior and after the thermal treatment. The depth and the thickness of the implanted layer, as well as their molar composition and crystalline quality was determined, and it was found that a single crystalline Si-Ge alloy layer was created, with both depth and mole fraction depending on the ion energy and the ion dose.

Interface bond relaxation on the thermal conductivity of Si/Ge core-shell nanowires

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Weifeng; He, Yan; Ouyang, Gang, E-mail: gangouy@hunnu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, Synergetic Innovation Center for Quantum Effects and Applications(SICQEA), Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081 (China); Sun, Changqing [School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore)

2016-01-15

The thermal conductivity of Si/Ge core-shell nanowires (CSNWs) is investigated on the basis of atomic-bond-relaxation consideration and continuum mechanics. An analytical model is developed to clarify the interface bond relaxation of Si/Ge CSNWs. It is found that the thermal conductivity of Si core can be modulated through covering with Ge epitaxial layers. The change of thermal conductivity in Si/Ge CSNWs should be attributed to the surface relaxation and interface mismatch between inner Si nanowire and outer Ge epitaxial layer. Our results are in well agreement with the experimental measurements and simulations, suggesting that the presented method provides a fundamental insight of the thermal conductivity of CSNWs from the atomistic origin.

RBS characterization of the deposition of very thin SiGe/SiO2 multilayers by LPCVD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz-Martin, A.; Climent-Font, A.; Rodriguez, A.; Sangrador, J.; Rodriguez, T.

2005-01-01

Multilayer structures consisting of several alternated layers of SiGe and SiO 2 with thickness ranging from 2 or Si as well as the deposition of SiO 2 on Si show negligible incubation times. The deposition of SiO 2 on SiGe, however, exhibits an incubation time of several minutes, which would be related to the oxidation of the surface necessary for the SiO 2 deposition to start. In all cases the film thickness increases linearly with deposition time, thus allowing the growth rates to be determined. These data allow the deposition process of these very thin layers to be accurately controlled

Conversion Matrix Analysis of SiGe HBT Gilbert Cell Mixers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Tom Keinicke; Vidkjær, Jens; Krozer, Viktor

2004-01-01

The frequency response of SiGe HBT active mixers based on the Gilbert cell topology is analyzed theoretically. The time-varying operation of the Gilbert cell mixer is taken into account by applying conversion matrix analysis. The main bandwidth limiting mechanisms experienced in SiGe HBT Gilbert ...

Structural and electrical properties of Ge(111) films grown on Si(111) substrates and application to Ge(111)-on-Insulator

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sawano, K., E-mail: sawano@tcu.ac.jp [Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University, 8-15-1 Todoroki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo (Japan); Hoshi, Y.; Kubo, S. [Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University, 8-15-1 Todoroki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo (Japan); Arimoto, K.; Yamanaka, J.; Nakagawa, K. [Center for Crystal Science and Technology, University of Yamanashi, 7 Miyamae-cho, Kofu (Japan); Hamaya, K. [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka (Japan); Miyao, M. [Department of Electronics, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Fukuoka (Japan); Shiraki, Y. [Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University, 8-15-1 Todoroki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo (Japan)

2016-08-31

Structural and electrical properties of a Ge(111) layer directly grown on a Si(111) substrate are studied. Via optimized two-step growth manner, we form a high-quality relaxed Ge layer, where strain-relieving dislocations are confined close to a Ge/Si interface. Consequently, a density of holes, which unintentionally come from crystal defects, is highly suppressed below 4 × 10{sup 16} cm{sup −3}, which leads to significantly high hole Hall mobility exceeding 1500 cm{sup 2}/Vs at room temperature. By layer transfer of the grown Ge layer, we also fabricate a Ge(111)-on-Insulator, which is a promising template for high-performance Ge-based electronic and photonic devices. - Highlights: • A high-quality Ge layer is epitaxially grown on a Si(111) by two-step growth manner. • Growth conditions, such as growth temperatures, are optimized. • Very high hole mobility is obtained from Ge(111) grown on Si(111). • High-quality thin Ge-on-Insulator with (111) orientation is obtained.

Tailoring the strain in Si nano-structures for defect-free epitaxial Ge over growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaumseil, P; Yamamoto, Y; Schubert, M A; Capellini, G; Skibitzki, O; Zoellner, M H; Schroeder, T

2015-09-04

We investigate the structural properties and strain state of Ge nano-structures selectively grown on Si pillars of about 60 nm diameter with different SiGe buffer layers. A matrix of TEOS SiO2 surrounding the Si nano-pillars causes a tensile strain in the top part at the growth temperature of the buffer that reduces the misfit and supports defect-free initial growth. Elastic relaxation plays the dominant role in the further increase of the buffer thickness and subsequent Ge deposition. This method leads to Ge nanostructures on Si that are free from misfit dislocations and other structural defects, which is not the case for direct Ge deposition on these pillar structures. The Ge content of the SiGe buffer is thereby not a critical parameter; it may vary over a relatively wide range.

Voltage tunable two-band MIR detection based on Si/SiGe quantum cascade injector structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grydlik, M.; Rauter, P.; Meduna, M.; Fromherz, T.; Bauer, G.; Falub, C.; Dehlinger, G.; Sigg, H.; Gruetzmacher, D.

2004-01-01

We report the results of photocurrent spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region performed on p-type Si/SiGe cascade structures. The samples were grown by MBE and consist of a series of five SiGe quantum wells with ground states that can be coupled through thin Si barriers by aligning them in energy with an externally applied electric field E bi . Quantum wells and barriers are Boron doped to a level of 2.5 10 17 cm -3 . Our samples contain 10 sequences of the 5 quantum wells separated by 500 nm thick, undoped Si barriers. Vertical photocurrent spectroscopy has been performed for various electric fields applied perpendicular to the quantum wells at temperatures between 10 K and 100 K. Depending on the direction of the externally applied electric field relative to E bi , the photoresponse of our samples can be switched between two MIR detection bands with maxima at 230 meV and 400 meV. Due to the inversion asymmetry of the samples, at 0 V external voltage the samples deliver a short circuit current in the high-energy spectral band. Since the quantum cascades are formed in the valence band of the Si/SiGe structures, the quantum well transitions responsible for the observed photocurrents are allowed for radiation polarized parallel to the quantum wells. Therefore, these structures appear to be suitable for voltage tuneable MIR detection under normal incident radiation. By comparing the experimental results to model calculations, design strategies to optimize the responsivity of the Si/SiGe cascade structures are discussed. (author)

C and Si delta doping in Ge by CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamamoto, Yuji, E-mail: yamamoto@ihp-microelectronics.com [IHP, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany); Ueno, Naofumi; Sakuraba, Masao [Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, 2-1-1, Katahira, Aoba-Ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Murota, Junichi [Micro System Integration Center, Tohoku University, 519-1176, Aramaki aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-0845 (Japan); Mai, Andreas [IHP, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany); Tillack, Bernd [IHP, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany); Technische Universität Berlin, HFT4, Einsteinufer 25, 10587 Berlin (Germany)

2016-03-01

C and Si delta doping in Ge are investigated using a reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition system to establish atomic-order controlled processes. CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} is exposed at 250 °C to 500 °C to a Ge on Si (100) substrate using H{sub 2} or N{sub 2} carrier gas followed by a Ge cap layer deposition. At 350 °C, C and Si are uniformly adsorbed on the Ge surface and the incorporated C and Si form steep delta profiles below detection limit of SIMS measurement. By using N{sub 2} as carrier gas, the incorporated C and Si doses in Ge are saturated at one mono-layer below 350 °C. At this temperature range, the incorporated C and Si doses are nearly the same, indicating CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} is adsorbed on the Ge surface without decomposing the C−Si bond. On the other hand, by using H{sub 2} as carrier gas, lower incorporated C is observed in comparison to Si. CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} injected with H{sub 2} carrier gas is adsorbed on Ge without decomposing the C−Si bond and the adsorbed C is reduced by dissociation of the C−Si bond during temperature ramp up to 550 °C. The adsorbed C is maintained on the Ge surface in N{sub 2} at 550 °C. - Highlights: • C and Si delta doping in Ge is investigated using RPCVD system by CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} exposure. • Atomically flat C and Si delta layers are fabricated at 350 °C. • Incorporated C and Si doses are saturated at one mono-layer below 350 °C. • CH{sub 3}SiH{sub 3} adsorption occurred without decomposing C−Si bond. • Adsorbed C is desorbed due to dissociation by hydrogen during postannealing at 550 °C.

The influence of a Si cap on self-organized SiGe islands and the underlying wetting layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brehm, M.; Grydlik, M.; Groiss, H.; Hackl, F.; Schaeffler, F.; Fromherz, T.; Bauer, G.

2011-01-01

For the prototypical SiGe/Si(001) Stranski-Krastanow (SK) growth system, the influence of intermixing caused by the deposition of a Si cap layer at temperatures T cap between 300 deg. C and 700 deg. C is studied both for the SiGe wetting layer (WL) and the SiGe islands. Systematic growth experiments were carried out with an ultrahigh resolution of down to 0.005 monolayers (ML) of deposited Ge. The properties of the samples were investigated via photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and transmission electron microscopy. We studied in detail the influence of T cap in the three main coverage regions of SiGe SK growth, which are (i) the WL build-up regime, (ii) the island nucleation regime, where most of the Ge is supplied via material transfer from the WL, and (iii) the saturation regime, where the WL thickness remains initially stable. At T cap = 300 deg. C, we found that both the WL and the island are essentially preserved in composition and shape, whereas at 500 deg. C the WL becomes heavily alloyed during capping, and at 700 deg. C the islands also become alloyed. At T cap = 500 deg. C we found enhanced WL intermixing in the presence of dome-shaped islands, whereas at T cap 700 deg. C the WL properties become dominated by the dissolution of pyramid-shaped islands upon capping. At Ge coverages above ≅6 ML, we found an unexpected thickening of the WL, almost independently of T cap . This finding suggests that the density and the volume of the dome-shaped islands have an upper limit, beyond which excess Ge from the external source again becomes incorporated into the WL. Finally, we compared PL spectra with AFM-based evaluations of the integral island volumes in order to determine in a straightforward manner the average composition of the SiGe islands.

C-V characterization of Schottky- and MIS-gate SiGe/Si HEMT structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onojima, Norio; Kasamatsu, Akihumi; Hirose, Nobumitsu; Mimura, Takashi; Matsui, Toshiaki

2008-01-01

Electrical properties of Schottky- and metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)-gate SiGe/Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were investigated with capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The MIS-gate HEMT structure was fabricated using a SiN gate insulator formed by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD). The Cat-CVD SiN thin film (5 nm) was found to be an effective gate insulator with good gate controllability and dielectric properties. We previously investigated device characteristics of sub-100-nm-gate-length Schottky- and MIS-gate HEMTs, and reported that the MIS-gate device had larger maximum drain current density and transconductance (g m ) than the Schottky-gate device. The radio frequency (RF) measurement of the MIS-gate device, however, showed a relatively lower current gain cutoff frequency f T compared with that of the Schottky-gate device. In this study, C-V characterization of the MIS-gate HEMT structure demonstrated that two electron transport channels existed, one at the SiGe/Si buried channel and the other at the SiN/Si surface channel

C-V characterization of Schottky- and MIS-gate SiGe/Si HEMT structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Onojima, Norio [National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 (Japan)], E-mail: nonojima@nict.go.jp; Kasamatsu, Akihumi; Hirose, Nobumitsu [National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 (Japan); Mimura, Takashi [National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 (Japan); Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0197 (Japan); Matsui, Toshiaki [National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 (Japan)

2008-07-30

Electrical properties of Schottky- and metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS)-gate SiGe/Si high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were investigated with capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The MIS-gate HEMT structure was fabricated using a SiN gate insulator formed by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD). The Cat-CVD SiN thin film (5 nm) was found to be an effective gate insulator with good gate controllability and dielectric properties. We previously investigated device characteristics of sub-100-nm-gate-length Schottky- and MIS-gate HEMTs, and reported that the MIS-gate device had larger maximum drain current density and transconductance (g{sub m}) than the Schottky-gate device. The radio frequency (RF) measurement of the MIS-gate device, however, showed a relatively lower current gain cutoff frequency f{sub T} compared with that of the Schottky-gate device. In this study, C-V characterization of the MIS-gate HEMT structure demonstrated that two electron transport channels existed, one at the SiGe/Si buried channel and the other at the SiN/Si surface channel.

Growth and characterization of Ge nano-structures on Si(113) by adsorbate-mediated epitaxy; Wachstum und Charakterisierung von Ge-Nanostrukturen auf Si(113) durch Adsorbat-modifizierte Epitaxie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clausen, T.

2006-11-15

In the work presented here Ge nano-structures on Si(113) substrates have been grown by adsorbate-mediated epitaxy at sample temperatures between 400 C and 700 C. The Ge nano-islands and nano-layers have been investigated regarding their atomic reconstruction, morphology, strain state, chemical composition and defect structure. Various in-situ and ex-situ experimental techniques have been used, as there are low-energy electron diffraction, low-energy electron microscopy, X-ray photoemission electron microscopy, spot profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. On a clean Si(113) surface Ge preferentially nucleates at surface step edges and forms a wetting layer exhibiting a Ge-(2 x 2) surface reconstruction. With increasing growth temperature the Ge islands are elongated in the [33 anti 2] direction. Simultaneously, the average island size increases with decreasing island density. From the Arrhenius-like behaviour of the island density, a Ge adatom diffusion barrier height of about 0.53 eV is deduced. At 600 C the Si concentration of the islands amounts to about 41% and the residual lattice strain of the islands is found to about 23 %. The adsorption of Gallium on a clean Si(113) substrate leads to the formation of well ordered surface facets in the [1 anti 10] direction with a periodicity of about 43 nm in the [33 anti 2] direction. From reciprocal space maps in different ({kappa} {sub perpendicular} {sub to} -{kappa} {sub parallel}) planes both facet angles are determined to be about 9.8 with respect to the [113] direction. Thus the facet orientations are identified to be (112) and (115), showing (6 x 1) and (4 x 1) surface reconstructions, respectively. Ge deposition on the faceted Si(113) leads to a high density of ordered 3D Ge nano-islands beaded at the surface facets. The size of these islands is

Tailoring the spin polarization in Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giorgioni, Anna; Pezzoli, Fabio; Gatti, Eleonora; Grilli, Emanuele; Guzzi, Mario; Bottegoni, Federico; Cecchi, Stefano; Ciccacci, Franco; Isella, Giovanni; Trivedi, Dhara; Song, Yang; Li, Pengki; Dery, Hanan

2013-01-01

We performed spin-resolved photoluminescence measurements on Ge/SiGe multiple quantum wells with different well thickness and using different exciting power densities. The polarization of the direct emission strongly depends on the relative weight of electrons photoexcited from the light and the heavy hole subbands. The study of the polarization as a function of the exciting power highlights the role of the carrier-carrier interactions in determining spin depolarization

Wafer-scale high-throughput ordered arrays of Si and coaxial Si/Si(1-x)Ge(x) wires: fabrication, characterization, and photovoltaic application.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Caofeng; Luo, Zhixiang; Xu, Chen; Luo, Jun; Liang, Renrong; Zhu, Guang; Wu, Wenzhuo; Guo, Wenxi; Yan, Xingxu; Xu, Jun; Wang, Zhong Lin; Zhu, Jing

2011-08-23

We have developed a method combining lithography and catalytic etching to fabricate large-area (uniform coverage over an entire 5-in. wafer) arrays of vertically aligned single-crystal Si nanowires with high throughput. Coaxial n-Si/p-SiGe wire arrays are also fabricated by further coating single-crystal epitaxial SiGe layers on the Si wires using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD). This method allows precise control over the diameter, length, density, spacing, orientation, shape, pattern and location of the Si and Si/SiGe nanowire arrays, making it possible to fabricate an array of devices based on rationally designed nanowire arrays. A proposed fabrication mechanism of the etching process is presented. Inspired by the excellent antireflection properties of the Si/SiGe wire arrays, we built solar cells based on the arrays of these wires containing radial junctions, an example of which exhibits an open circuit voltage (V(oc)) of 650 mV, a short-circuit current density (J(sc)) of 8.38 mA/cm(2), a fill factor of 0.60, and an energy conversion efficiency (η) of 3.26%. Such a p-n radial structure will have a great potential application for cost-efficient photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Optical and structural investigations of self-assembled Ge/Si bi-layer containing Ge QDs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samavati, Alireza, E-mail: alireza.samavati@yahoo.com [Ibn Sina Institute for Fundamental Science Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor (Malaysia); Othaman, Z., E-mail: zulothaman@gmail.com [Ibn Sina Institute for Fundamental Science Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai 81310, Johor (Malaysia); Ghoshal, S.K.; Dousti, M.R. [Advanced Optical Material Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor (Malaysia)

2014-10-15

We report the influence of Si spacer thickness variation (10–40 nm) on structural and optical properties of Ge quantum dots (QDs) in Ge/Si(1 0 0) bi-layer grown by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. AFM images reveal the spacer dependent width, height, root mean square roughness and number density of QDs vary in the range of ∼12–25 nm, ∼2–6 nm, ∼1.95–1.05 nm and ∼0.55×10{sup 11}–2.1×10{sup 11} cm{sup −2}, respectively. XRD patterns exhibit the presence of poly-oriented structures of Ge with preferred growth along (1 1 1) direction accompanied by a reduction in strain from 4.9% to 1.2% (estimated from Williamson–Hall plot) due to bi-layering. The room temperature luminescence displays strong blue–violet peak associated with a blue shift as much as 0.05 eV upon increasing the thickness of Si spacer. This shift is attributed to the quantum size effect, the material intermixing and the strain mediation. Raman spectra for both mono and bi-layer samples show intense Ge–Ge optical phonon mode that is shifted towards higher frequency. Furthermore, the first order features of Raman spectra affirm the occurrence of interfacial intermixing and phase formation during deposition. The excellent features of the results suggest that our systematic method may constitute a basis for the tunable growth of Ge QDs suitable in nanophotonics. - Highlights: • High quality bilayered hetero-structure Ge/Si using economic and easy rf magnetron sputtering fabrication method. • The role of phonon-confinement and strain relaxation mechanisms. • Influence of bilayering on evolutionary growth dynamics. • Band gap shift of visible PL upon bilayering.

Influence of the step properties on submonolayer growth of Ge and Si at the Si(111) surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Romanyuk, Konstantin

2009-10-21

The present work describes an experimental investigation of the influence of the step properties on the submonolayer growth at the Si(111) surface. In particular the influence of step properties on the morphology, shape and structural stability of 2D Si/Ge nanostructures was explored. Visualization, morphology and composition measurements of the 2D SiGe nanostructures were carried out by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The formation of Ge nanowire arrays on highly ordered kink-free Si stepped surfaces is demonstrated. The crystalline nanowires with minimal kink densities were grown using Bi surfactant mediated epitaxy. The nanowires extend over lengths larger than 1 {mu}m have a width of 4 nm. To achieve the desired growth conditions for the formation of such nanowire arrays, a modified variant of surfactant mediated epitaxy was explored. It was shown that controlling the surfactant coverage at the surface and/or at step edges modifies the growth properties of surface steps in a decisive way. The surfactant coverage at step edges can be associated with Bi passivation of the step edges. The analysis of island size distributions showed that the step edge passivation can be tuned independently by substrate temperature and by Bi rate deposition. The measurements of the island size distributions for Si and Ge in surfactant mediated growth reveal different scaling functions for different Bi deposition rates on Bi terminated Si(111) surface. The scaling function changes also with temperature. The main mechanism, which results in the difference of the scaling functions can be revealed with data of Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations. According to the data of the Si island size distributions at different growth temperatures and different Bi deposition rates the change of SiGe island shape and preferred step directions were attributed to the change of the step edge passivation. It was shown that the change of the step edge passivation is followed by a change of the

Strain relaxation of GaAs/Ge crystals on patterned Si substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taboada, A. G.; Kreiliger, T.; Falub, C. V.; Känel, H. von; Isa, F.; Isella, G.; Salvalaglio, M.; Miglio, L.; Wewior, L.; Fuster, D.; Alén, B.; Richter, M.; Uccelli, E.; Niedermann, P.; Neels, A.; Dommann, A.; Mancarella, F.

2014-01-01

We report on the mask-less integration of GaAs crystals several microns in size on patterned Si substrates by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. The lattice parameter mismatch is bridged by first growing 2-μm-tall intermediate Ge mesas on 8-μm-tall Si pillars by low-energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We investigate the morphological evolution of the GaAs crystals towards full pyramids exhibiting energetically stable (111) facets with decreasing Si pillar size. The release of the strain induced by the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients in the GaAs crystals has been studied by X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. The strain release mechanism is discussed within the framework of linear elasticity theory by Finite Element Method simulations, based on realistic geometries extracted from scanning electron microscopy images

Strain relaxation of GaAs/Ge crystals on patterned Si substrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taboada, A. G., E-mail: gonzalez@phys.ethz.ch; Kreiliger, T.; Falub, C. V.; Känel, H. von [Laboratory for Solid State Physics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, CH-8093 Zürich (Switzerland); Isa, F.; Isella, G. [L-NESS, Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, via Anzani 42, I-22100 Como (Italy); Salvalaglio, M.; Miglio, L. [L-NESS, Department of Materials Science, Università di Milano-Bicocca, via Cozzi 55, I-20125 Milano (Italy); Wewior, L.; Fuster, D.; Alén, B. [IMM, Instituto de Microelectrónica de Madrid (CNM, CSIC), C/Isaac Newton 8, E-28760 Tres Cantos, Madrid (Spain); Richter, M.; Uccelli, E. [Functional Materials Group, IBM Research-Zürich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon (Switzerland); Niedermann, P.; Neels, A.; Dommann, A. [Centre Suisse d' Electronique et Microtechnique, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchatel (Switzerland); Mancarella, F. [CNR-IMM of Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy)

2014-01-13

We report on the mask-less integration of GaAs crystals several microns in size on patterned Si substrates by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy. The lattice parameter mismatch is bridged by first growing 2-μm-tall intermediate Ge mesas on 8-μm-tall Si pillars by low-energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. We investigate the morphological evolution of the GaAs crystals towards full pyramids exhibiting energetically stable (111) facets with decreasing Si pillar size. The release of the strain induced by the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients in the GaAs crystals has been studied by X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurements. The strain release mechanism is discussed within the framework of linear elasticity theory by Finite Element Method simulations, based on realistic geometries extracted from scanning electron microscopy images.

Mechanical characterization of poly-SiGe layers for CMOS–MEMS integrated application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Modlinski, Robert; Witvrouw, Ann; Verbist, Agnes; De Wolf, Ingrid; Puers, Robert

2010-01-01

Measuring mechanical properties at the microscale is essential to understand and to fabricate reliable MEMS. In this paper a tensile testing system and matching microscale test samples are presented. The test samples have a dog-bone-like structure. They are designed to mimic standard macro-tensile test samples. The micro-tensile tests are used to characterize 0.9 µm thick polycrystalline silicon germanium (poly-SiGe) films. The poly-SiGe film, that can be considered as a close equivalent to polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), is studied as a very promising material for use in CMOS/MEMS integration in a single chip due to its low-temperature LPCVD deposition (T < 450 °C). The fabrication process of the poly-SiGe micro-tensile test structure is explained in detail: the design, the processing and post-processing, the testing and finally the results' discussion. The poly-SiGe micro-tensile results are also compared with nanoindentation data obtained on the same poly-SiGe films as well as with results obtained by other research groups

Mechanical characterization of poly-SiGe layers for CMOS-MEMS integrated application

Science.gov (United States)

Modlinski, Robert; Witvrouw, Ann; Verbist, Agnes; Puers, Robert; De Wolf, Ingrid

2010-01-01

Measuring mechanical properties at the microscale is essential to understand and to fabricate reliable MEMS. In this paper a tensile testing system and matching microscale test samples are presented. The test samples have a dog-bone-like structure. They are designed to mimic standard macro-tensile test samples. The micro-tensile tests are used to characterize 0.9 µm thick polycrystalline silicon germanium (poly-SiGe) films. The poly-SiGe film, that can be considered as a close equivalent to polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si), is studied as a very promising material for use in CMOS/MEMS integration in a single chip due to its low-temperature LPCVD deposition (T < 450 °C). The fabrication process of the poly-SiGe micro-tensile test structure is explained in detail: the design, the processing and post-processing, the testing and finally the results' discussion. The poly-SiGe micro-tensile results are also compared with nanoindentation data obtained on the same poly-SiGe films as well as with results obtained by other research groups.

Inhibitive formation of nanocavities by introduction of Si atoms in Ge nanocrystals produced by ion implantation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cai, R. S.; Shang, L.; Liu, X. H.; Zhang, Y. J. [The Cultivation Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, No. 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071 (China); Wang, Y. Q., E-mail: yqwang@qdu.edu.cn, E-mail: barba@emt.inrs.ca [The Cultivation Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, No. 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071 (China); College of Physics Science, Qingdao University, No. 308 Ningxia Road, Qingdao 266071 (China); Ross, G. G.; Barba, D., E-mail: yqwang@qdu.edu.cn, E-mail: barba@emt.inrs.ca [INRS-Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, 1650 boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes Québec J3X 1S2 (Canada)

2014-05-28

Germanium nanocrystals (Ge-nc) were successfully synthesized by co-implantation of Si and Ge ions into a SiO{sub 2} film thermally grown on (100) Si substrate and fused silica (pure SiO{sub 2}), respectively, followed by subsequent annealing at 1150 °C for 1 h. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) examinations show that nanocavities only exist in the fused silica sample but not in the SiO{sub 2} film on a Si substrate. From the analysis of the high-resolution TEM images and electron energy-loss spectroscopy spectra, it is revealed that the absence of nanocavities in the SiO{sub 2} film/Si substrate is attributed to the presence of Si atoms inside the formed Ge-nc. Because the energy of Si-Ge bonds (301 kJ·mol{sup −1}) are greater than that of Ge-Ge bonds (264 kJ·mol{sup −1}), the introduction of the Si-Ge bonds inside the Ge-nc can inhibit the diffusion of Ge from the Ge-nc during the annealing process. However, for the fused silica sample, no crystalline Si-Ge bonds are detected within the Ge-nc, where strong Ge outdiffusion effects produce a great number of nanocavities. Our results can shed light on the formation mechanism of nanocavities and provide a good way to avoid nanocavities during the process of ion implantation.

Direct growth of Ge quantum dots on a graphene/SiO2/Si structure using ion beam sputtering deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Z; Wang, R F; Zhang, J; Li, H S; Zhang, J; Qiu, F; Yang, J; Wang, C; Yang, Y

2016-07-29

The growth of Ge quantum dots (QDs) using the ion beam sputtering deposition technique has been successfully conducted directly on single-layer graphene supported by SiO2/Si substrate. The results show that the morphology and size of Ge QDs on graphene can be modulated by tuning the Ge coverage. Charge transfer behavior, i.e. doping effect in graphene has been demonstrated at the interface of Ge/graphene. Compared with that of traditional Ge dots grown on Si substrate, the positions of both corresponding photoluminescence (PL) peaks of Ge QDs/graphene hybrid structure undergo a large red-shift, which can probably be attributed to the lack of atomic intermixing and the existence of surface states in this hybrid material. According to first-principles calculations, the Ge growth on the graphene should follow the so-called Volmer-Weber mode instead of the Stranski-Krastanow one which is observed generally in the traditional Ge QDs/Si system. The calculations also suggest that the interaction between Ge and graphene layer can be enhanced with the decrease of the Ge coverage. Our results may supply a prototype for fabricating novel optoelectronic devices based on a QDs/graphene hybrid nanostructure.

All-epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeSi/Ge/Co{sub 2}FeSi trilayers fabricated by Sn-induced low-temperature epitaxy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawano, M.; Ikawa, M.; Arima, K.; Yamada, S.; Kanashima, T.; Hamaya, K., E-mail: hamaya@ee.es.osaka-u.ac.jp [Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka 560-8531 (Japan)

2016-01-28

We demonstrate low-temperature growth of all-epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeSi/Ge/Co{sub 2}FeSi trilayer structures by developing Sn-induced surfactant-mediated molecular beam epitaxy (SMBE) of Ge on Co{sub 2}FeSi. Despite the growth of a semiconductor on a metal, we verify that the inserted Sn monolayers between Ge and Co{sub 2}FeSi enable to promote the 2D epitaxial growth of Ge up to 5 nm at a T{sub G} of 250 °C. An understanding of the mechanism of the Sn-induced SMBE leads to the achievement of all-epitaxial Co{sub 2}FeSi/Ge/Co{sub 2}FeSi trilayer structures with spin-valve-like magnetization reversals. This study will open a way for vertical-type and high-performance Ge-based spintronics devices.

Relaxation of mechanical stresses in Si-Ge/Si structures implanted by carbon ions. Study with optical methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klyuj, M.Yi.

1998-01-01

Optical properties of Si-Ge/Si structures implanted by carbon ions with the energy of 20 keV and at the doses of 5 centre dot 10 15 - 1- 16 cm -2 are studied by spectro ellipsometry and Raman scattering techniques. From the comparison of experimental data with the results of theoretical calculations, it is shown that, as a result of implantation, a partial relaxation of mechanical stresses in the Si 1-x Ge x film due to introduction of carbon atoms with a small covalent radius into the Si-Ge lattice takes place. An elevated implantation temperature allows one to maintain a high structural perfection of the implanted film

Heavy Ion Current Transients in SiGe HBTs

Science.gov (United States)

Pellish, Jonathan A.; Reed, Robert A.; Vizkelethy, Gyorgy; McMorrow, Dale; Ferlet-Cavrois, Veronique; Baggio, Jacques; Paillet, Philipe; Duhanel, Olivier; Phillips, Stanley D.; Sutton, Akil K.;

Improvement of photoluminescence from Ge layer with patterned Si3N4 stressors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oda, Katsuya; Okumura, Tadashi; Tani, Kazuki; Saito, Shin-ichi; Ido, Tatemi

2014-01-01

Lattice strain applied by patterned Si 3 N 4 stressors in order to improve the optical properties of Ge layers directly grown on a Si substrate was investigated. Patterned Si 3 N 4 stressors were fabricated by various methods and their effects on the strain and photoluminescence were studied. Although we found that when the stressor was fabricated by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the Ge waveguide was tensilely and compressively strained in the edge and center positions, respectively, and photoluminescence (PL) could be improved by decreasing the width of the waveguide, the crystallinity of the Ge waveguide was degraded by the thermal impact of the deposition process. Low-temperature methods were therefore used to make the patterned stressors. The tensile strain of the Ge layer increased from 0.14% to 0.2% when the stressor was grown by plasma enhanced CVD at 350 °C, but the effects of the increased tensile strain could not be confirmed because the Si 3 N 4 layer was unstable when irradiated with the excitation light used in photoluminescence measurements. Si 3 N 4 stressors grown by inductively coupled plasma CVD at room temperature increased the tensile strain of the Ge layer up to 0.4%, thus red-shifting the PL peak and obviously increasing the PL intensity. These results indicate that the Si 3 N 4 stressors fabricated by the room-temperature process efficiently improve the performance of Ge light-emitting devices. - Highlights: • Ge layers were directly grown on a Si substrate by low-temperature epitaxial growth. • Si 3 N 4 stressors were fabricated on the Ge layers by various methods. • Tensile strain of the Ge layers was improved by the Si 3 N 4 stressors. • Photoluminescence (PL) intensity was increased with the Si 3 N 4 stressors. • Red-shift of the PL spectra was observed from the tensile strained Ge layers

The Leakage Current Improvement of a Ni-Silicided SiGe/Si Junction Using a Si Cap Layer and the PAI Technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Jian-Guang; Wu Chun-Bo; Ji Xiao-Li; Ma Hao-Wen; Yan Feng; Shi Yi; Zhang Rong

2012-01-01

We investigate the leakage current of ultra-shallow Ni-silicided SiGe/Si junctions for 45 nm CMOS technology using a Si cap layer and the pre-amorphization implantation (PAI) process. It is found that with the conventional Ni silicide method, the leakage current of a p + (SiGe)—n(Si) junction is large and attributed to band-to-band tunneling and the generation-recombination process. The two leakage contributors can be suppressed quite effectively when a Si cap layer is added in the Ni silicide method. The leakage reduction is about one order of magnitude and could be associated with the suppression of the agglomeration of the Ni germano-silicide film. In addition, the PAI process after the application of a Si cap layer has little effect on improving the junction leakage but reduces the sheet resistance of the silicide film. As a result, the novel Ni silicide method using a Si cap combined with PAI is a promising choice for SiGe junctions in advanced technology. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

Comparative study of GeO{sub 2}/Ge and SiO{sub 2}/Si structures on anomalous charging of oxide films upon water adsorption revealed by ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mori, Daichi; Kawai, Kentaro; Morita, Mizuho; Arima, Kenta, E-mail: arima@prec.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp [Department of Precision Science and Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1, Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Oka, Hiroshi; Hosoi, Takuji; Watanabe, Heiji [Department of Material and Life Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1, Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Crumlin, Ethan J.; Liu, Zhi [Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720 (United States)

2016-09-07

The energy difference between the oxide and bulk peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra was investigated for both GeO{sub 2}/Ge and SiO{sub 2}/Si structures with thickness-controlled water films. This was achieved by obtaining XPS spectra at various values of relative humidity (RH) of up to ∼15%. The increase in the energy shift is more significant for thermal GeO{sub 2} on Ge than for thermal SiO{sub 2} on Si above ∼10{sup −4}% RH, which is due to the larger amount of water molecules that infiltrate into the GeO{sub 2} film to form hydroxyls. Analyzing the origins of this energy shift, we propose that the positive charging of a partially hydroxylated GeO{sub 2} film, which is unrelated to X-ray irradiation, causes the larger energy shift for GeO{sub 2}/Ge than for SiO{sub 2}/Si. A possible microscopic mechanism of this intrinsic positive charging is the emission of electrons from adsorbed water species in the suboxide layer of the GeO{sub 2} film to the Ge bulk, leaving immobile cations or positively charged states in the oxide. This may be related to the reported negative shift of flat band voltages in metal-oxide-semiconductor diodes with an air-exposed GeO{sub 2} layer.

Cryogenic operation of a 24 GHz MMIC SiGe HBT medium power amplifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Guoxuan; Jiang, Ningyue; Seo, Jung-Hun; Cho, Namki; Van der Weide, Daniel; Ma, Zhenqiang; Ponchak, George E; Ma, Pingxi; Stetson, Scott; Racanelli, Marco

2010-01-01

The performance of a SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) millimetre-wave power amplifier (PA) operating at cryogenic temperature was reported and analysed for the first time. A 24 GHz two-stage medium PA employing common-emitter and common-base SiGe power HBTs in the first and the second stage, respectively, showed a significant power gain increase at 77 K in comparison with that measured at room temperature. Detailed analyses indicate that cryogenic operation of SiGe HBT-based PAs mainly affects (improves) the performance of the SiGe HBTs in the circuits due to transconductance enhancement through magnified, favourable changes of SiGe bandgap due to cooling (ΔE g /kT) and minimized thermal effects, with little influence on the passive components of the circuits

Enhanced Electron Mobility in Nonplanar Tensile Strained Si Epitaxially Grown on SixGe1-x Nanowires.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Feng; Tutuc, Emanuel

2018-01-10

We report the growth and characterization of epitaxial, coherently strained Si x Ge 1-x -Si core-shell nanowire heterostructure through vapor-liquid-solid growth mechanism for the Si x Ge 1-x core, followed by an in situ ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition for the Si shell. Raman spectra acquired from individual nanowire reveal the Si-Si, Si-Ge, and Ge-Ge modes of the Si x Ge 1-x core and the Si-Si mode of the shell. Because of the compressive (tensile) strain induced by lattice mismatch, the core (shell) Raman modes are blue (red) shifted compared to those of unstrained bare Si x Ge 1-x (Si) nanowires, in good agreement with values calculated using continuum elasticity model coupled with lattice dynamic theory. A large tensile strain of up to 2.3% is achieved in the Si shell, which is expected to provide quantum confinement for electrons due to a positive core-to-shell conduction band offset. We demonstrate n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors using Si x Ge 1-x -Si core-shell nanowires as channel and observe a 40% enhancement of the average electron mobility compared to control devices using Si nanowires due to an increased electron mobility in the tensile-strained Si shell.

Ge/Si(001) heterostructures with dense arrays of Ge quantum dots: morphology, defects, photo-emf spectra and terahertz conductivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuryev, Vladimir A; Arapkina, Larisa V; Storozhevykh, Mikhail S; Chapnin, Valery A; Chizh, Kirill V; Uvarov, Oleg V; Kalinushkin, Victor P; Zhukova, Elena S; Prokhorov, Anatoly S; Spektor, Igor E; Gorshunov, Boris P

2012-07-23

: Issues of Ge hut cluster array formation and growth at low temperatures on the Ge/Si(001) wetting layer are discussed on the basis of explorations performed by high resolution STM and in-situ RHEED. Dynamics of the RHEED patterns in the process of Ge hut array formation is investigated at low and high temperatures of Ge deposition. Different dynamics of RHEED patterns during the deposition of Ge atoms in different growth modes is observed, which reflects the difference in adatom mobility and their 'condensation' fluxes from Ge 2D gas on the surface for different modes, which in turn control the nucleation rates and densities of Ge clusters. Data of HRTEM studies of multilayer Ge/Si heterostructures are presented with the focus on low-temperature formation of perfect films.Heteroepitaxial Si p-i-n-diodes with multilayer stacks of Ge/Si(001) quantum dot dense arrays built in intrinsic domains have been investigated and found to exhibit the photo-emf in a wide spectral range from 0.8 to 5 μm. An effect of wide-band irradiation by infrared light on the photo-emf spectra has been observed. Photo-emf in different spectral ranges has been found to be differently affected by the wide-band irradiation. A significant increase in photo-emf is observed in the fundamental absorption range under the wide-band irradiation. The observed phenomena are explained in terms of positive and neutral charge states of the quantum dot layers and the Coulomb potential of the quantum dot ensemble. A new design of quantum dot infrared photodetectors is proposed.By using a coherent source spectrometer, first measurements of terahertz dynamical conductivity (absorptivity) spectra of Ge/Si(001) heterostructures were performed at frequencies ranged from 0.3 to 1.2 THz in the temperature interval from 300 to 5 K. The effective dynamical conductivity of the heterostructures with Ge quantum dots has been discovered to be significantly higher than that of the structure with the same amount of bulk

Synthesis and fundamental properties of stable Ph(3)SnSiH(3) and Ph(3)SnGeH(3) hydrides: model compounds for the design of Si-Ge-Sn photonic alloys.

Science.gov (United States)

Tice, Jesse B; Chizmeshya, Andrew V G; Groy, Thomas L; Kouvetakis, John

2009-07-06

The compounds Ph(3)SnSiH(3) and Ph(3)SnGeH(3) (Ph = C(6)H(5)) have been synthesized as colorless solids containing Sn-MH(3) (M = Si, Ge) moieties that are stable in air despite the presence of multiple and highly reactive Si-H and Ge-H bonds. These molecules are of interest since they represent potential model compounds for the design of new classes of IR semiconductors in the Si-Ge-Sn system. Their unexpected stability and high solubility also makes them a safe, convenient, and potentially useful delivery source of -SiH(3) and -GeH(3) ligands in molecular synthesis. The structure and composition of both compounds has been determined by chemical analysis and a range of spectroscopic methods including multinuclear NMR. Single crystal X-ray structures were determined and indicated that both compounds condense in a Z = 2 triclinic (P1) space group with lattice parameters (a = 9.7754(4) A, b = 9.8008(4) A, c = 10.4093(5) A, alpha = 73.35(10)(o), beta = 65.39(10)(o), gamma = 73.18(10)(o)) for Ph(3)SnSiH(3) and (a = 9.7927(2) A, b = 9.8005(2) A, c = 10.4224(2) A, alpha = 74.01(3)(o), beta = 65.48(3)(o), gamma = 73.43(3)(o)) for Ph(3)SnGeH(3). First principles density functional theory simulations are used to corroborate the molecular structures of Ph(3)SnSiH(3) and Ph(3)SnGeH(3), gain valuable insight into the relative stability of the two compounds, and provide correlations between the Si-Sn and Ge-Sn bonds in the molecules and those in tetrahedral Si-Ge-Sn solids.

RBS/channeling study of buried Ge quantum dots grown in a Si layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fonseca, A.; Alves, E.; Barradas, N.P.; Leitao, J.P.; Sobolev, N.A.; Carmo, M.C.; Nikiforov, A.I.; Presting, H.

2006-01-01

In last decades we have been assisting to a crescent importance of low dimensional systems for the fabrication of nano- and opto-electronic devices. Ge quantum dots (QDs) are well suited for fulfilling these requirements. In this work we present and discuss Ge/Si multilayer and single layer samples grown by molecular beam epitaxy. RBS/channeling results reveal the evidence for the presence of Ge QD for the thickest (with 1 ML of SiO 2 and 0.9 nm of Ge) single layer sample. On the other hand Ge atoms are fully substitutional incorporated in the Si matrix for the thinner sample, excluding the formation of Ge QDs. Multilayer sample shows an angular deviation of the Ge curve (-0.48 o ) with respect to the Si ones, indicating the compressive strain of the films. A tetragonal distortion of (1.78 ± 0.19%) was calculated

Reduced-pressure chemical vapor deposition of boron-doped Si and Ge layers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogumilowicz, Y.; Hartmann, J.M.

2014-01-01

We have studied the in-situ boron (B) doping of germanium (Ge) and silicon (Si) in Reduced Pressure-Chemical Vapor Deposition. Three growth temperatures have been investigated for the B-doping of Ge: 400, 600 and 750 °C at a constant growth pressure of 13300 Pa (i.e. 100 Torr). The B concentration in the Ge:B epilayer increases linearly with the diborane concentration in the gaseous phase. Single-crystalline Ge:B layers with B concentrations in-between 9 ∙ 10 17 and 1 ∙ 10 20 cm −3 were achieved. For the in-situ B doping of Si at 850 °C, two dichlorosilane mass flow ratios (MFR) have been assessed: F[SiH 2 Cl 2 ]/F[H 2 ] = 0.0025 and F[SiH 2 Cl 2 ]/F[H 2 ] = 0.0113 at a growth pressure of 2660 Pa (i.e. 20 Torr). Linear boron incorporation with the diborane concentration in the gas phase has been observed and doping levels in-between 3.5 ∙ 10 17 and 1 ∙ 10 20 cm −3 were achieved. We almost kept the same ratio of B versus Si atoms in the gas phase and in the Si epilayer. By contrast, roughly half of the B atoms present in the gas phase were incorporated in the Ge:B layers irrespective of the growth temperature. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) allowed us to extract from the angular position of the Ge:B layer diffraction peak the substitutional B concentration. Values close to the B concentrations obtained by 4-probe resistivity measurements were obtained. Ge:B layers were smooth (< 1 m root mean square roughness associated with 20 × 20 μm 2 Atomic Force Microscopy images). Only for high F[B 2 H 6 ]/F[GeH 4 ] MFR (3.2 10 −3 ) did the Ge:B layers became rough; they were however still mono-crystalline (XRD). Above this MFR value, Ge:B layers became polycrystalline. - Highlights: • Boron doping of germanium and silicon in Reduced Pressure-Chemical Vapor Deposition • Linear boron incorporation in Ge:B and Si:B with the diborane flow • Single-crystal Ge:B layers with B concentrations in-between 9 ∙ 10 17 and 1 ∙ 10 20 cm −3 • Single-crystal Si

Extended deep level defects in Ge-condensed SiGe-on-Insulator structures fabricated using proton and helium implantations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwak, D.W.; Lee, D.W.; Oh, J.S.; Lee, Y.H.; Cho, H.Y.

2012-01-01

SiGe-on-Insulator (SGOI) structures were created using the Ge condensation method, where an oxidation process is performed on the SiGe/Si structure. This method involves rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition and H + /He + ion-implantations. Deep level defects in these structures were investigated using deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) by varying the pulse injection time. According to the DLTS measurements, a deep level defect induced during the Ge condensation process was found at 0.28 eV above the valence band with a capture cross section of 2.67 × 10 −17 cm 2 , two extended deep levels were also found at 0.54 eV and 0.42 eV above the valence band with capture cross sections of 3.17 × 10 −14 cm 2 and 0.96 × 10 −15 cm 2 , respectively. In the SGOI samples with ion-implantation, the densities of the newly generated defects as well as the existing defects were decreased effectively. Furthermore, the Coulomb barrier heights of the extended deep level defects were drastically reduced. Thus, we suggest that the Ge condensation method with H + ion implantation could reduce deep level defects generated from the condensation and control the electrical properties of the condensed SiGe layers. - Highlights: ► We have fabricated low-defective SiGe-on-Insulator (SGOI) with implantation method. ► H + and He + -ions are used for ion-implantation method. ► We have investigated the deep level defects of SGOI layers. ► Ge condensation method using H + ion implantation could reduce extended defects. ► They could enhance electrical properties.

Epitaxial growth of Si1−xGex alloys and Ge on Si(100) by electron-cyclotron-resonance Ar plasma chemical vapor deposition without substrate heating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Naofumi; Sakuraba, Masao; Murota, Junichi; Sato, Shigeo

2014-01-01

By using electron-cyclotron-resonance (ECR) Ar-plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) without substrate heating, the epitaxial growth process of Si 1−x Ge x alloy and Ge films deposited directly on dilute-HF-treated Si(100) was investigated. From the reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns of the deposited Si 1−x Ge x alloy (x = 0.50, 0.75) and Ge films on Si(100), it is confirmed that epitaxial growth can be realized without substrate heating, and that crystallinity degradation at larger film thickness is observed. The X-ray diffraction peak of the epitaxial films reveals the existence of large compressive strain, which is induced by lattice matching with the Si(100) substrate at smaller film thicknesses, as well as strain relaxation behavior at larger film thicknesses. The Ge fraction of Si 1−x Ge x thin film is in good agreement with the normalized GeH 4 partial pressure. The Si 1−x Ge x deposition rate increases with an increase of GeH 4 partial pressure. The GeH 4 partial pressure dependence of partial deposition rates [(Si or Ge fraction) × (Si 1−x Ge x thickness) / (deposition time)] shows that the Si partial deposition rate is slightly enhanced by the existence of Ge. From these results, it is proposed that the ECR-plasma CVD process can be utilized for Ge fraction control in highly-strained heterostructure formation of group IV semiconductors. - Highlights: • Si 1−x Ge x alloy and Ge were epitaxially grown on Si(100) without substrate heating. • Large strain and its relaxation behavior can be observed by X-ray diffraction. • Ge fraction of Si 1−x Ge x is equal to normalized GeH 4 partial pressure. • Si partial deposition rate is slightly enhanced by existence of Ge

Delayed plastic relaxation limit in SiGe islands grown by Ge diffusion from a local source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vanacore, G. M.; Zani, M.; Tagliaferri, A., E-mail: alberto.tagliaferri@polimi.it [CNISM-Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Nicotra, G. [IMM-CNR, Stradale Primosole 50, I-95121 Catania (Italy); Bollani, M. [CNR-IFN, LNESS, Via Anzani 42, I-22100 Como (Italy); Bonera, E.; Montalenti, F.; Picco, A.; Boioli, F. [Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali and L-NESS, Università Milano-Bicocca, via Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano (Italy); Capellini, G. [Department of Sciences at the Università Roma Tre, Via Vasca Navale 79, 00146 Roma (Italy); Isella, G. [CNISM, LNESS, Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano (Polo di Como), Via Anzani 42, I-22100 Como (Italy); Osmond, J. [ICFO–The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 3, E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona) (Spain)

2015-03-14

The hetero-epitaxial strain relaxation in nano-scale systems plays a fundamental role in shaping their properties. Here, the elastic and plastic relaxation of self-assembled SiGe islands grown by surface-thermal-diffusion from a local Ge solid source on Si(100) are studied by atomic force and transmission electron microscopies, enabling the simultaneous investigation of the strain relaxation in different dynamical regimes. Islands grown by this technique remain dislocation-free and preserve a structural coherence with the substrate for a base width as large as 350 nm. The results indicate that a delay of the plastic relaxation is promoted by an enhanced Si-Ge intermixing, induced by the surface-thermal-diffusion, which takes place already in the SiGe overlayer before the formation of a critical nucleus. The local entropy of mixing dominates, leading the system toward a thermodynamic equilibrium, where non-dislocated, shallow islands with a low residual stress are energetically stable. These findings elucidate the role of the interface dynamics in modulating the lattice distortion at the nano-scale, and highlight the potential use of our growth strategy to create composition and strain-controlled nano-structures for new-generation devices.

Electronic and magnetic properties of Si substituted Fe{sub 3}Ge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shanavas, K. V., E-mail: kavungalvees@ornl.gov; McGuire, Michael A.; Parker, David S. [Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6056 (United States)

2015-09-28

Using first principles calculations, we studied the effect of Si substitution in the hexagonal Fe{sub 3}Ge. We find the low temperature magnetic anisotropy in this system to be planar and originating mostly from the spin-orbit coupling in Fe-d states. Reduction of the unitcell volume reduces the magnitude of in-plane magnetic anisotropy, eventually turning it positive which reorients the magnetic moments to the axial direction. Substituting Ge with the smaller Si ions also increases the anisotropy, potentially enhancing the region of stability of the axial magnetization, which is beneficial for magnetic applications such as permanent magnets. Our experimental measurements on samples of Fe{sub 3}Ge{sub 1−x}Si{sub x} confirm these predictions and show that substitution of about 6% of the Ge with Si increases by approximately 35 K the temperature range over which anisotropy is uniaxial.

Boron diffusion in Ge+ premorphized and BF2 implanted Si(001)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou, L.F.; Acosta-Ortiz, S.E.; Zou, L.X.; Regalado, L.E.; Sun, D.Z.; Wang, Z.G.

1998-01-01

The annealing behavior of Si implanted with Ge and then BF 2 has been characterized by double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXRD) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). The results show that annealing at 600 Centigrade for 60 minutes can only remove a little damage induced by implantation and nearly no redistribution of Ge and B atoms has occurred during the annealing. The initial crystallinity of Si is fully recovered after annealing at 950 Centigrade for 60 minutes and accompanied by Ge diffusion. Very shallow boron junction depth has been formed. When annealing temperature rises to 1050 Centigrade, B diffusion enhances, which leads to a deep diffusion and good distribution of B atoms into the Si substrate. The X-ray diffraction (004) rocking curves from the samples annealed at 1050 Centigrade for 60 minutes display two Si Ge peaks, which may be related to the B concentration profiles. (Author)

Growth Mechanism and Surface Structure of Ge Nanocrystals Prepared by Thermal Annealing of Cosputtered GeSiO Ternary Precursor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bo Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Ge nanocrystals (Ge-ncs embedded in a SiO2 superlattice structure were prepared by magnetron cosputtering and postdeposition annealing. The formation of spherical nanocrystals was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and their growth process was studied by a combination of spectroscopic techniques. The crystallinity volume fraction of Ge component was found to increase with crystallite size, but its overall low values indicated a coexistence of crystalline and noncrystalline phases. A reduction of Ge-O species was observed in the superlattice during thermal annealing, accompanied by a transition from oxygen-deficient silicon oxide to silicon dioxide. A growth mechanism involving phase separation of Ge suboxides (GeOx was then proposed to explain these findings and supplement the existing growth models for Ge-ncs in SiO2 films. Further analysis of the bonding structure of Ge atoms suggested that Ge-ncs are likely to have a core-shell structure with an amorphous-like surface layer, which is composed of GeSiO ternary complex. The surface layer thickness was extracted to be a few angstroms and equivalent to several atomic layer thicknesses.

Structural evolution of Ge-rich Si1−xGex films deposited by jet-ICPCVD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Wang

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Amorphous Ge-rich Si1−xGex films with local Ge-clustering were deposited by dual-source jet-type inductively coupled plasma chemical-vapor deposition (jet-ICPCVD. The structural evolution of the deposited films annealed at various temperatures (Ta is investigated. Experimental results indicate that the crystallization occurs to form Ge and Si clusters as Ta = 500 °C. With raising Ta up to 900 °C, Ge clusters percolate together and Si diffuses and redistributes to form a Ge/SiGe core/shell structure, and some Ge atoms partially diffuse to the surface as a result of segregation. The present work will be helpful in understanding the structural evolution process of a hybrid SiGe films and beneficial for further optimizing the microstructure and properties.

Ge-rich graded-index Si1-xGex devices for MID-IR integrated photonics

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, J. M.; Vakarin, V.; Liu, Q.; Frigerio, J.; Ballabio, A.; Le Roux, X.; Benedikovic, D.; Alonso-Ramos, C.; Isella, G.; Vivien, L.; Marris-Morini, D.

2018-02-01

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) silicon photonics is becoming a prominent research with remarkable potential in several applications such as in early medical diagnosis, safe communications, imaging, food safety and many more. In the quest for the best material platform to develop new photonic systems, Si and Ge depart with a notable advantage over other materials due to the high processing maturity accomplished during the last part of the 20th century through the deployment of the CMOS technology. From an optical viewpoint, combining Si with Ge to obtain SiGe alloys with controlled stoichiometry is also of interest for the photonic community since permits to increase the effective refractive index and the nonlinear parameter, providing a fascinating playground to exploit nonlinear effects. Furthermore, using Ge-rich SiGe gives access to a range of deep mid-IR wavelengths otherwise inaccessible (λ 2-20 μm). In this paper, we explore for the first time the limits of this approach by measuring the spectral loss characteristic over a broadband wavelength range spanning from λ = 5.5 μm to 8.5 μm. Three different SiGe waveguide platforms are compared, each one showing higher compactness than the preceding through the engineering of the vertical Ge profile, giving rise to different confinement characteristics to the propagating modes. A flat propagation loss characteristic of 2-3 dB/cm over the entire wavelength span is demonstrated in Ge-rich graded-index SiGe waveguides of only 6 μm thick. Also, the role of the overlap fraction of the confined optical mode with the Si-rich area at the bottom side of the epitaxial SiGe waveguide is put in perspective, revealing a lossy characteristic compared to the other designs were the optical mode is located in the Ge-rich area at the top of the waveguide uniquely. These Ge-rich graded-index SiGe waveguides may pave the way towards a new generation of photonic integrated circuits operating at deep mid-IR wavelengths.

Noise Parameter Analysis of SiGe HBTs for Different Sizes in the Breakdown Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chie-In Lee

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Noise parameters of silicon germanium (SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs for different sizes are investigated in the breakdown region for the first time. When the emitter length of SiGe HBTs shortens, minimum noise figure at breakdown decreases. In addition, narrower emitter width also decreases noise figure of SiGe HBTs in the avalanche region. Reduction of noise performance for smaller emitter length and width of SiGe HBTs at breakdown resulted from the lower noise spectral density resulting from the breakdown mechanism. Good agreement between experimental and simulated noise performance at breakdown is achieved for different sized SiGe HBTs. The presented analysis can benefit the RF circuits operating in the breakdown region.

Enhanced Electrical Activation in In-Implanted Si0.35Ge0.65 by C Co-Doping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Ruixing; Kremer, Felipe; Sprouster, David J.; Mirzaei, Sahar; Decoster, Stefan

2016-01-01

In this report, we have achieved a significant increase in the electrically active dopant fraction in Indium (In)-implanted Si 0.35 Ge 0.65 , by co-doping with the isovalent element Carbon (C). Electrical measurements have been correlated with X-ray absorption spectroscopy to determine the electrical properties and the In atom lattice location. With C+In co-doping, the solid solubility of In in Si 0.35 Ge 0.65 was at least tripled from between 0.02 and 0.06 at% to between 0.2 and 0.6 at% as a result of C–In pair formation, which suppressed In metal precipitation. A dramatic improvement of electrical properties was thus attained in the co-doped samples.

Impacts of doping on epitaxial germanium thin film quality and Si-Ge interdiffusion

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Guangnan

2018-04-03

Ge-on-Si structures with three different dopants (P, As and B) and those without intentional doping were grown, annealed and characterized by several different material characterization methods. All samples have a smooth surface (roughness < 1.5 nm), and the Ge films are almost entirely relaxed. B doped Ge films have threading dislocations above 1 × 10 cm, while P and As doping can reduce the threading dislocation density to be less than 10 cm without annealing. The interdiffusion of Si and Ge of different films have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. A quantitative model of Si-Ge interdiffusion under extrinsic conditions across the full x range was established including the dislocationmediated diffusion. The Kirkendall effect has been observed. The results are of technical significance for the structure, doping, and process design of Ge-on-Si based devices, especially for photonic applications.

Impacts of doping on epitaxial germanium thin film quality and Si-Ge interdiffusion

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Guangnan; Lee, Kwang Hong; Anjum, Dalaver H.; Zhang, Qiang; Zhang, Xixiang; Tan, Chuan Seng; Xia, Guangrui

2018-01-01

Ge-on-Si structures with three different dopants (P, As and B) and those without intentional doping were grown, annealed and characterized by several different material characterization methods. All samples have a smooth surface (roughness < 1.5 nm), and the Ge films are almost entirely relaxed. B doped Ge films have threading dislocations above 1 × 10 cm, while P and As doping can reduce the threading dislocation density to be less than 10 cm without annealing. The interdiffusion of Si and Ge of different films have been investigated experimentally and theoretically. A quantitative model of Si-Ge interdiffusion under extrinsic conditions across the full x range was established including the dislocationmediated diffusion. The Kirkendall effect has been observed. The results are of technical significance for the structure, doping, and process design of Ge-on-Si based devices, especially for photonic applications.

Kinetics of Si and Ge nanowires growth through electron beam evaporation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artoni Pietro

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Si and Ge have the same crystalline structure, and although Si-Au and Ge-Au binary alloys are thermodynamically similar (same phase diagram, with the eutectic temperature of about 360°C, in this study, it is proved that Si and Ge nanowires (NWs growth by electron beam evaporation occurs in very different temperature ranges and fluence regimes. In particular, it is demonstrated that Ge growth occurs just above the eutectic temperature, while Si NWs growth occurs at temperature higher than the eutectic temperature, at about 450°C. Moreover, Si NWs growth requires a higher evaporated fluence before the NWs become to be visible. These differences arise in the different kinetics behaviors of these systems. The authors investigate the microscopic growth mechanisms elucidating the contribution of the adatoms diffusion as a function of the evaporated atoms direct impingement, demonstrating that adatoms play a key role in physical vapor deposition (PVD NWs growth. The concept of incubation fluence, which is necessary for an interpretation of NWs growth in PVD growth conditions, is highlighted.

Kinetics of Si and Ge nanowires growth through electron beam evaporation.

Science.gov (United States)

Artoni, Pietro; Pecora, Emanuele Francesco; Irrera, Alessia; Priolo, Francesco

2011-02-21

Si and Ge have the same crystalline structure, and although Si-Au and Ge-Au binary alloys are thermodynamically similar (same phase diagram, with the eutectic temperature of about 360°C), in this study, it is proved that Si and Ge nanowires (NWs) growth by electron beam evaporation occurs in very different temperature ranges and fluence regimes. In particular, it is demonstrated that Ge growth occurs just above the eutectic temperature, while Si NWs growth occurs at temperature higher than the eutectic temperature, at about 450°C. Moreover, Si NWs growth requires a higher evaporated fluence before the NWs become to be visible. These differences arise in the different kinetics behaviors of these systems. The authors investigate the microscopic growth mechanisms elucidating the contribution of the adatoms diffusion as a function of the evaporated atoms direct impingement, demonstrating that adatoms play a key role in physical vapor deposition (PVD) NWs growth. The concept of incubation fluence, which is necessary for an interpretation of NWs growth in PVD growth conditions, is highlighted.

Spin-polarized photoemission from SiGe heterostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ferrari, A.; Bottegoni, F.; Isella, G.; Cecchi, S.; Chrastina, D.; Finazzi, M.; Ciccacci, F. [LNESS-Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2013-12-04

We apply the principles of Optical Orientation to measure by Mott polarimetry the spin polarization of electrons photoemitted from different group-IV heterostructures. The maximum measured spin polarization, obtained from a Ge/Si{sub 0.31}Ge{sub 0.69} strained film, undoubtedly exceeds the maximum value of 50% attainable in bulk structures. The explanation we give for this result lies in the enhanced band orbital mixing between light hole and split-off valence bands as a consequence of the compressive strain experienced by the thin Ge layer.

Templated self-assembly of SiGe quantum dots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dais, Christian

2009-08-19

This PhD thesis reports on the fabrication and characterization of exact aligned SiGe quantum dot structures. In general, SiGe quantum dots which nucleate via the Stranski-Krastanov growth mode exhibit broad size dispersion and nucleate randomly on the surface. However, to tap the full potential of SiGe quantum dots it is necessary to control the positioning and size of the dots on a nanometer length, e.g. for electronically addressing of individual dots. This can be realized by so-called templated self-assembly, which combines top-down lithography with bottom-up selfassembly. In this process the lithographically defined pits serve as pre-defined nucleation points for the epitaxially grown quantum dots. In this thesis, extreme ultraviolet interference lithography at a wavelength of e=13.4 nm is employed for prepatterning of the Si substrates. This technique allows the precise and fast fabrication of high-resolution templates with a high degree of reproducibility. The subsequent epitaxial deposition is either performed by molecular beam epitaxy or low-pressure chemical vapour deposition. It is shown that the dot nucleation on pre-patterned substrates depends strongly on the lithography parameters, e.g. size and periodicity of the pits, as well as on the epitaxy parameters, e.g. growth temperature or material coverage. The interrelations are carefully analyzed by means of scanning force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements. Provided that correct template and overgrowth parameters are chosen, perfectly aligned and uniform SiGe quantum dot arrays of different period, size as well as symmetry are created. In particular, the quantum dot arrays with the so far smallest period (35 nm) and smallest size dispersion are fabricated in this thesis. Furthermore, the strain fields of the underlying quantum dots allow the fabrication of vertically aligned quantum dot stacks. Combining lateral and vertical dot alignment results in three

Heteroepitaxial Growth of Vacuum-Evaporated Si-Ge Films on Nano structured Silicon Substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ayu Wazira Azhari; Ayu Wazira Azhari; Kamaruzzaman Sopian; Saleem Hussain Zaidi

2015-01-01

In this study, a low-cost vacuum-evaporated technique is used in the heteroepitaxial growth of Si-Ge films. Three different surface variations are employed: for example polished Si, Si micro pyramids and Si nano pillars profiles. A simple metal-assisted chemical etching method is used to fabricate the Si nano pillars, with Ag acting as a catalyst. Following deposition, substrates are subjected to post-deposition thermal annealing at 1000 degree Celsius to improve the crystallinity of the Ge layer. Optical and morphological studies of surface area are conducted using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. From the infrared spectroscopy analysis, the energy bandgap for Si-Ge films is estimated to be around 0.94 eV. This high-quality Si-Ge film is most favourable for optics, optoelectronics and high-efficiency solar cell applications. (author)

Growth of BaSi2 film on Ge(100) by vacuum evaporation and its photoresponse properties

Science.gov (United States)

Trinh, Cham Thi; Nakagawa, Yoshihiko; Hara, Kosuke O.; Kurokawa, Yasuyoshi; Takabe, Ryota; Suemasu, Takashi; Usami, Noritaka

2017-05-01

We have successfully grown a polycrystalline orthorhombic BaSi2 film on a Ge(100) substrate by an evaporation method. Deposition of an amorphous Si (a-Si) film on the Ge substrate prior to BaSi2 evaporation plays a critical role in obtaining a high-quality BaSi2 film. By controlling substrate temperature and the thickness of the a-Si film, a crack-free and single-phase polycrystalline orthorhombic BaSi2 film with a long carrier lifetime of 1.5 µs was obtained on Ge substrates. The photoresponse property of the ITO/BaSi2/Ge/Al structure was clearly observed, and photoresponsivity was found to increase with increasing substrate temperature during deposition of a-Si. Furthermore, the BaSi2 film grown on Ge showed a higher photoresponsivity than that grown on Si, indicating the potential application of evaporated BaSi2 on Ge to thin-film solar cells.

Tuning ZrFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2} by Ge and Y substitution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weber, Katharina [Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden (Germany); Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Dresden (Germany); Mufti, Nandang; Bergmann, Christoph; Rosner, Helge; Geibel, Christoph [Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden (Germany); Goltz, Til; Klauss, Hans-Henning [Institute of Solid State Physics, TU Dresden (Germany); Woike, Theo [Institute for Structural Physics, TU Dresden (Germany)

2016-07-01

The intermetallic compound series AFe{sub 4}X{sub 2} (A = Y, Lu, Zr; X = Si, Ge) presents a rare case of magnetic frustrated metallic systems. In particular ZrFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2} is of strong interest because our results indicate this system to be very close to a quantum critical point (QCP) where Fe magnetic order disappears. To get a deeper insight into its ground state, we performed a detailed study of Ge and Y substituted ZrFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2}. The isovalent substitution of Ge for Si induces a negative chemical pressure as Ge is larger than Si. As expected from this, the substitution results in the formation of a well-defined antiferromagnetic order with Neel temperatures increasing up to 25 K at 40 % Ge. This confirms ZrFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2} to be extremely close to the QCP, just on the magnetic side of it. With the second substitution series Y{sub x}Zr{sub 1-x}Fe{sub 4}Si{sub 2} we investigate the development from the highly reduced antiferromagnetic order in ZrFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2} towards the two magnetic transitions at 56 K and 76 K, which we see in YFe{sub 4}Si{sub 2}.

SiGe Integrated Circuit Developments for SQUID/TES Readout

Science.gov (United States)

Prêle, D.; Voisin, F.; Beillimaz, C.; Chen, S.; Piat, M.; Goldwurm, A.; Laurent, P.

2018-03-01

SiGe integrated circuits dedicated to the readout of superconducting bolometer arrays for astrophysics have been developed since more than 10 years at APC. Whether for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations with the QUBIC ground-based experiment (Aumont et al. in astro-ph.IM, 2016. arXiv:1609.04372) or for the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme with the X-IFU instrument on-board of the ATHENA space mission (Barret et al. in SPIE 9905, space telescopes & instrumentation 2016: UV to γ Ray, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232432), several kinds of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) (Irwin and Hilton, in ENSS (ed) Cryogenic particle detection, Springer, Berlin, 2005) arrays have been investigated. To readout such superconducting detector arrays, we use time or frequency domain multiplexers (TDM, FDM) (Prêle in JINST 10:C08015, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/10/08/C08015) with Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices (SQUID). In addition to the SQUID devices, low-noise biasing and amplification are needed. These last functions can be obtained by using BiCMOS SiGe technology in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). ASIC technology allows integration of highly optimised circuits specifically designed for a unique application. Moreover, we could reach very low-noise and wide band amplification using SiGe bipolar transistor either at room or cryogenic temperatures (Cressler in J Phys IV 04(C6):C6-101, 1994. https://doi.org/10.1051/jp4:1994616). This paper discusses the use of SiGe integrated circuits for SQUID/TES readout and gives an update of the last developments dedicated to the QUBIC telescope and to the X-IFU instrument. Both ASIC called SQmux128 and AwaXe are described showing the interest of such SiGe technology for SQUID multiplexer controls.

Photonic metasurface made of array of lens-like SiGe Mie resonators formed on (100) Si substrate via dewetting

Science.gov (United States)

Poborchii, Vladimir; Shklyaev, Alexander; Bolotov, Leonid; Uchida, Noriyuki; Tada, Tetsuya; Utegulov, Zhandos N.

2017-12-01

Metasurfaces consisting of arrays of high-index Mie resonators concentrating/redirecting light are important for integrated optics, photodetectors, and solar cells. Herein, we report the optical properties of low-Ge-content SiGe lens-like Mie resonator island arrays fabricated via dewetting during Ge deposition on a Si(100) surface at approximately 900 °C. We observe enhancement of the Si interaction with light owing to the efficient island-induced light concentration in the submicron-depth Si layer, which is mediated by both near-field Mie resonance leaking into the substrate and far-field light focusing. Such metasurfaces can improve the Si photodetector and solar-cell performance.

Study of Ge loss during Ge condensation process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Z.Y.; Di, Z.F.; Ye, L.; Mu, Z.Q.; Chen, D.; Wei, X.; Zhang, M.; Wang, X.

2014-01-01

Ge loss during Ge condensation process was investigated by transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. This work reveals that Ge loss can be attributed to the Ge oxidation at SiO 2 /SiGe interface, Ge diffusion in SiO 2 layers and Ge trapped at buried SiO 2 /Si interface. During Ge condensation process, with the increase of the Ge content, the Si atoms become insufficient for selective oxidation at the oxide/SiGe interface. Consequently, the Si and Ge are oxidized simultaneously. When the Ge composition in SiGe layer increases further and approaches 100%, the Ge atoms begin to diffuse into the top SiO 2 layer and buried SiO 2 layer. However, the X-ray photoelectron spectrometry analysis manifests that the chemical states of the Ge in top SiO 2 layer are different from those in buried SiO 2 layer, as the Ge atoms diffused into top SiO 2 layer are oxidized to form GeO 2 in the subsequent oxidation step. With the increase of the diffusion time, a quantity of Ge atoms diffuse through buried SiO 2 layer and pile up at buried SiO 2 /Si interface due to the interfacial trapping. The SiO 2 /Si interface acts like a pump, absorbing Ge from a Ge layer continuously through a pipe-buried SiO 2 layer. With the progress of Ge condensation process, the quantity of Ge accumulated at SiO 2 /Si interface increases remarkably. - Highlights: • Ge loss during Ge condensation process is attributed to the Ge oxidation at SiO 2 /SiGe interface. • Ge diffusion in SiO 2 layers and Ge trapped at buried SiO 2 /Si interface • When Ge content in SiGe layer approaches 100%, Ge diffusion into the SiO 2 layer is observed. • Ge then gradually diffuses through buried SiO 2 layer and pile up at SiO 2 /Si interface

Nitride passivation of the interface between high-k dielectrics and SiGe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sardashti, Kasra [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0358 (United States); Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411 (United States); Hu, Kai-Ting [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0358 (United States); Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0411 (United States); Tang, Kechao; McIntyre, Paul [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305 (United States); Madisetti, Shailesh; Oktyabrsky, Serge [Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Albany, New York 12222 (United States); Siddiqui, Shariq; Sahu, Bhagawan [TD Research, GLOBALFOUNDRIES US, Inc., Albany, New York 12203 (United States); Yoshida, Naomi; Kachian, Jessica; Dong, Lin [Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, California 95054 (United States); Fruhberger, Bernd [California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0436 (United States); Kummel, Andrew C., E-mail: akummel@ucsd.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0358 (United States)

2016-01-04

In-situ direct ammonia (NH{sub 3}) plasma nitridation has been used to passivate the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/SiGe interfaces with Si nitride and oxynitride. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the buried Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/SiGe interface shows that NH{sub 3} plasma pre-treatment should be performed at high temperatures (300 °C) to fully prevent Ge nitride and oxynitride formation at the interface and Ge out-diffusion into the oxide. C-V and I-V spectroscopy results show a lower density of interface traps and smaller gate leakage for samples with plasma nitridation at 300 °C.

Ordered Arrays of SiGe Islands from Low-Energy PECVD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chrastina D

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract SiGe islands have been proposed for applications in the fields of microelectronics, optoelectronics and thermoelectrics. Although most of the works in literature are based on MBE, one of the possible advantages of low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (LEPECVD is a wider range of deposition rates, which in turn results in the possibility of growing islands with a high Ge concentration. We will show that LEPECVD can be effectively used for the controlled growth of ordered arrays of SiGe islands. In order to control the nucleation of the islands, patterned Si (001 substrates were obtained by e-beam lithography (EBL and dry etching. We realized periodic circular pits with diameters ranging from 80 to 300 nm and depths from 65 to 75 nm. Subsequently, thin films (0.8–3.2 nm of pure Ge were deposited by LEPECVD, resulting in regular and uniform arrays of Ge-rich islands. LEPECVD allowed the use of a wide range of growth rates (0.01–0.1 nm s−1 and substrates temperatures (600–750°C, so that the Ge content of the islands could be varied. Island morphology was characterized by AFM, while μ-Raman was used to analyze the Ge content inside the islands and the composition differences between islands on patterned and unpatterned areas of the substrate.

Quantum-confined Stark effect at 1.3 μm in Ge/Si(0.35)Ge(0.65) quantum-well structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Rouifed, Mohamed Said; Chaisakul, Papichaya; Marris-Morini, Delphine; Frigerio, Jacopo; Isella, Giovanni; Chrastina, Daniel; Edmond, Samson; Le Roux, Xavier; Coudevylle, Jean-René; Vivien, Laurent

2012-10-01

Room-temperature quantum-confined Stark effect in a Ge/SiGe quantum-well structure is reported at the wavelength of 1.3 μm. The operating wavelength is tuned by the use of strain engineering. Low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is used to grow 20 periods of strain-compensated quantum wells (8 nm Ge well and 12 nm Si(0.35)Ge(0.65) barrier) on Si(0.21)Ge(0.79) virtual substrate. The fraction of light absorbed per well allows for a strong modulation around 1.3 μm. The half-width at half-maximum of the excitonic peak of only 12 meV allows for a discussion on physical mechanisms limiting the performances of such devices.

Generation of uniaxial tensile strain of over 1% on a Ge substrate for short-channel strained Ge n-type Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors with SiGe stressors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moriyama, Yoshihiko; Kamimuta, Yuuichi; Ikeda, Keiji; Tezuka, Tsutomu

2012-01-01

Tensile strain of over 1% in Ge stripes sandwiched between a pair of SiGe source-drain stressors was demonstrated. The Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET)-like structures were fabricated on a (001)-Ge substrate having SiO 2 dummy-gate stripes with widths down to 26 nm. Recess-regions adjacent to the dummy-gate stripes were formed by an anisotropic wet etching technique. A damage-free and well-controlled anisotropic wet etching process is developed in order to avoid plasma-induced damage during a conventional Reactive-ion Etching process. The SiGe stressors were epitaxially grown on the recesses to simulate strained Ge n-channel Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MISFETs) having high electron mobility. A micro-Raman spectroscopy measurement revealed tensile strain in the narrow Ge regions which became higher for narrower regions. Tensile strain of up to 1.2% was evaluated from the measurement under an assumption of uniaxial strain configuration. These results strongly suggest that higher electron mobility than the upper limit for a Si-MOSFET is obtainable in short-channel strained Ge-nMISFETs with the embedded SiGe stressors.

New members of the A2 M ‧ M2″ structure family (A=Ca, Sr, Yb, La; M ‧ = In , Sn , Pb; M ″ = Si , Ge)

Science.gov (United States)

Jehle, Michael; Dürr, Ines; Fink, Saskia; Lang, Britta; Langenmaier, Michael; Steckhan, Julia; Röhr, Caroline

2015-01-01

The new mixed tetrelides Sr2PbGe2 and Yb2SnGe2, several mixed Ca/Sr (AII) germanides A2II (Sn, Pb)Ge2 and two polymorphs of La2 InSi2 represent new members of the general structure family of ternary alkaline-earth/lanthanoid main group silicides/germanides A2 M ‧ M2″ (M ‧ = In , Sn , Pb ; M ″ = Si , Ge). All compounds were synthesized from melts of the elements and their crystal structures have been determined by means of single crystal X-ray diffraction. Sr2PbGe2 (Cmmm, a=402.36(11), b=1542.3(4), c=463.27(10) pm) crystallizes with the Mn2AlB2 -type structure. In exhibiting infinite planar Ge zig-zag chains, it represents one border of the compound series. The other borderline case, where only [Ge2 ] dumbbells are left as Ge building units, is represented by the Ca/Yb tin germanides Ca2SnGe2 and Yb2SnGe2 (Mo2FeB2 -type; P4/mbm, a=748.58(13)/740.27(7), c=445.59(8)/435.26(5) pm). In between these two border structures compounds with variable Si/Ge chain lengths could be obtained by varying the averaged size of the AII cations: Ca0.45Sr1.55PbGe2 (new structure type; Pbam, a=791.64(5), b=2311.2(2), c=458.53(3) pm) contains planar six-membered chain segments [Ge6 ]. Tetrameric pieces [Ge4 ] are the conspicuous structure elements in Ca1.16Sr0.84SnGe2 and La2 InSi2 (La2InNi2 -type; Pbam, a=781.01(2)/762.01(13), b=1477.95(3)/1494.38(6), c=457.004(9)/442.1(3) pm). The tetragonal form of 'La2 In Si2‧ (exact composition: La2In1.07Si1.93, P4/mbm, a=1309.11(12), c=443.32(4) pm) also crystallizes in a new structure type, containing only [Si3 ] trimers as cutouts of the planar chains. In all structures the Si/Ge zig-zag chains/chain segments are connected by In/Sn/Pb atoms to form planar M layers, which are separated by pure A layers. Band structure calculations within the FP-LAPW DFT approach together with the Zintl formalism, extended by the presence of hypervalent bonding of the heavier M ‧ elements, give insight into the chemical bonding of this series of p

Electron-electron interaction in p-SiGe/Ge quantum wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roessner, Benjamin; Kaenel, Hans von; Chrastina, Daniel; Isella, Giovanni; Batlogg, Bertram

2005-01-01

The temperature dependent magnetoresistance of high mobility p-SiGe/Ge quantum wells is studied with hole densities ranging from 1.7 to 5.9 x 10 11 cm -2 . At magnetic fields below the onset of quantum oscillations that reflect the high mobility values (up to 75000 cm 2 /Vs), we observe the clear signatures of electron-electron interaction. We compare our experiment with the theory of electron-electron interaction including the Zeeman band splitting. The observed magnetoresistance is well explained as a superposition of band structure induced positive magnetoresistance and the negative magntoresistance due to the electron-electron interaction effect

Mode analysis and structure parameter optimization of a novel SiGe-OI rib optical waveguide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng Song; Gao Yong; Yang Yuan [Department of Electronic Engineering, Xi' an University of Technology, Xi' an 710048 (China); Feng Yuchun, E-mail: vonfs@yahoo.com.c [Key Laboratories of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060 (China)

2009-08-15

The mode of a novel SiGe-OI optical waveguide is analyzed, and its single-mode conditions are derived. The Ge content and structure parameters of SiGe-OI optical waveguides are respectively optimized. Under an operation wavelength of 1300 nm, the structures of SiGe-OI rib optical waveguides are built and analyzed with Optiwave software, and the optical field and transmission losses of the SiGe-OI rib optical waveguides are analyzed. The optimization results show that when the structure parameters H, h, W are respectively 500 nm, 250 nm, 500 nm and the Ge content is 5%, the total power loss of SiGe-OI rib waveguides is 0.3683 dB/cm considering the loss of radiation outside the waveguides and materials, which is less than the traditional value of 0.5 dB/cm. The analytical technique for SiGe-OI optical waveguides and structure parameters computed by this paper are proved to be accurate and computationally efficient compared with the beam propagation method (BPM) and the experimental results. (semiconductor devices)

Theoretical calculation of performance enhancement in lattice-matched SiGeSn/GeSn p-channel tunneling field-effect transistor with type-II staggered tunneling junction

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongjuan; Han, Genquan; Wang, Yibo; Peng, Yue; Liu, Yan; Zhang, Chunfu; Zhang, Jincheng; Hu, Shengdong; Hao, Yue

2016-04-01

In this work, a lattice-matched SiGeSn/GeSn heterostructure p-channel tunneling field-effect transistor (hetero-PTFET) with a type-II staggered tunneling junction (TJ) is investigated theoretically. Lattice matching and type-II band alignment at the Γ-point is obtained at the SiGeSn/GeSn interface by tuning Sn and Si compositions. A steeper subthreshold swing (SS) and a higher on state current (I ON) are demonstrated in SiGeSn/GeSn hetero-PTFET than in GeSn homo-PTFET. Si0.31Ge0.49Sn0.20/Ge0.88Sn0.12 hetero-PTFET achieves a 2.3-fold higher I ON than Ge0.88Sn0.12 homo-PTFET at V DD of 0.3 V. Hetero-PTFET achieves a more abrupt hole profile and a higher carrier density near TJ than the homo-PTFET, which contributes to the significantly enhanced band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) rate and tunneling current in hetero-PTFET.

Intermixing between HfO2 and GeO2 films deposited on Ge(001) and Si(001): Role of the substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, G. V.; Krug, C.; Miotti, L.; Bastos, K. P.; Lucovsky, G.; Baumvol, I. J. R.; Radtke, C.

2011-01-01

Thermally driven atomic transport in HfO 2 /GeO 2 /substrate structures on Ge(001) and Si(001) was investigated in N 2 ambient as function of annealing temperature and time. As-deposited stacks showed no detectable intermixing and no instabilities were observed on Si. On Ge, loss of O and Ge was detected in all annealed samples, presumably due to evolution of GeO from the GeO 2 /Ge interface. In addition, hafnium germanate is formed at 600 deg. C. Our data indicate that at 500 deg. C and above HfO 2 /GeO 2 stacks are stable only if isolated from the Ge substrate.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Coinage Metal Complexes of the Germanium-Rich Metalloid Clusters [Ge9R3]− and [Ge9RI2]2− with R = Si(iPr3 and RI = Si(TMS3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felix S. Geitner

2017-07-01

Full Text Available We report on the synthesis of novel coinage metal NHC (N-heterocyclic carbene compounds of the germanium-rich metalloid clusters [Ge9R3]− and [Ge9RI2]2− with R = Si(iPr3 and RI = Si(TMS3. NHCDippCu{η3Ge9R3} with R = Si(iPr3 (1 represents a less bulky silyl group-substituted derivative of the known analogous compounds with R = Si(iBu3 or Si(TMS3. The coordination of the [NHCDippCu]+ moiety to the cluster unit occurs via one triangular face of the tri-capped trigonal prismatic [Ge9] cluster. Furthermore, a series of novel Zintl cluster coinage metal NHC compounds of the type (NHCM2{η3Ge9RI2} (RI = Si(TMS3 M = Cu, Ag and Au; NHC = NHCDipp or NHCMes is presented. These novel compounds represent a new class of neutral dinuclear Zintl cluster coinage metal NHC compounds, which are obtained either by the stepwise reaction of a suspension of K12Ge17 with Si(TMS3Cl and the coinage metal carbene complexes NHCMCl (M = Cu, Ag, Au, or via a homogenous reaction using the preformed bis-silylated cluster K2[Ge9(Si(TMS32] and the corresponding NHCMCl (M = Cu, Ag, Au complex. The molecular structures of NHCDippCu{η3Ge9(Si(iPr33} (1 and (NHCDippCu2{η3-Ge9(Si(TMS32} (2 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. In 2, the coordination of the [NHCDippCu]+ moieties to the cluster unit takes place via both open triangular faces of the [Ge9] entity. Furthermore, all compounds were characterized by means of NMR spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 29Si and ESI-MS.

Molecular beam epitaxy grown Ge/Si pin layer sequence for photonic devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulze, J.; Oehme, M.; Werner, J.

2012-01-01

A key challenge to obtain a convergence of classical Si-based microelectronics and optoelectronics is the manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits integrable into classical Si-based integrated circuits. This integration would be greatly enhanced if similar facilities and technologies could be used. Therefore one approach is the development of optoelectronic components and devices made from group-IV-based materials such as SiGe, Ge or Ge:Sn. In this paper the optoelectronic performances of a pin diode made from a Ge/Si heterostructure pin layer sequence grown by molecular beam epitaxy are discussed. After a detailed description of the layer sequence growth and the device manufacturing process it will be shown that – depending on the chosen operating point and device design – the diode serves as a broadband high speed photo detector, Franz–Keldysh effect modulator or light emitting diode.

Molecular beam epitaxy grown Ge/Si pin layer sequence for photonic devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schulze, J., E-mail: schulze@iht.uni-stuttgart.de; Oehme, M.; Werner, J.

2012-02-01

A key challenge to obtain a convergence of classical Si-based microelectronics and optoelectronics is the manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits integrable into classical Si-based integrated circuits. This integration would be greatly enhanced if similar facilities and technologies could be used. Therefore one approach is the development of optoelectronic components and devices made from group-IV-based materials such as SiGe, Ge or Ge:Sn. In this paper the optoelectronic performances of a pin diode made from a Ge/Si heterostructure pin layer sequence grown by molecular beam epitaxy are discussed. After a detailed description of the layer sequence growth and the device manufacturing process it will be shown that - depending on the chosen operating point and device design - the diode serves as a broadband high speed photo detector, Franz-Keldysh effect modulator or light emitting diode.

Selective growth of Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer on patterned SiO2/Si substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Takeuchi, Wakana; Washizu, Tomoya; Ike, Shinichi; Nakatsuka, Osamu; Zaima, Shigeaki

2018-01-01

We have investigated the selective growth of a Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer on a line/space-patterned SiO2/Si substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. We examined the behavior of a Sn precursor of tributyl(vinyl)tin (TBVSn) during the growth on Si and SiO2 substrates and investigated the effect of the Sn precursor on the selective growth. The selective growth of the Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer was performed under various total pressures and growth temperatures of 300 and 350 °C. The selective growth of the Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer on the patterned Si region is achieved at a low total pressure without Ge1- x Sn x growth on the SiO2 region. In addition, we found that the Sn content in the Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer increases with width of the SiO2 region for a fixed Si width even with low total pressure. To control the Sn content in the selective growth of the Ge1- x Sn x epitaxial layer, it is important to suppress the decomposition and migration of Sn and Ge precursors.

MeV Si ion modifications on the thermoelectric generators from Si/Si + Ge superlattice nano-layered films

Science.gov (United States)

Budak, S.; Heidary, K.; Johnson, R. B.; Colon, T.; Muntele, C.; Ila, D.

2014-08-01

The performance of thermoelectric materials and devices is characterized by a dimensionless figure of merit, ZT = S2σT/K, where, S and σ denote, respectively, the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin and K represents the thermal conductivity. The figure of merit may be improved by means of raising either S or σ or by lowering K. In our laboratory, we have fabricated and characterized the performance of a large variety of thermoelectric generators (TEG). Two TEG groups comprised of 50 and 100 alternating layers of Si/Si + Ge multi-nanolayered superlattice films have been fabricated and thoroughly characterized. Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) was utilized to assemble the alternating sandwiched layers, resulting in total thickness of 300 nm and 317 nm for 50 and 100 layer devices, respectively. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) was employed in order to monitor the precise quantity of Si and Ge utilized in the construction of specific multilayer thin films. The material layers were subsequently impregnated with quantum dots and/or quantum clusters, in order to concurrently reduce the cross plane thermal conductivity, increase the cross plane Seebeck coefficient and raise the cross plane electrical conductivity. The quantum dots/clusters were implanted via the 5 MeV Si ion bombardment which was performed using a Pelletron high energy ion beam accelerator. We have achieved remarkable results for the thermoelectric and optical properties of the Si/Si + Ge multilayer thin film TEG systems. We have demonstrated that with optimal setting of the 5 MeV Si ion beam bombardment fluences, one can fabricate TEG systems with figures of merits substantially higher than the values previously reported.

MeV Si ion modifications on the thermoelectric generators from Si/Si + Ge superlattice nano-layered films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Budak, S., E-mail: satilmis.budak@aamu.edu [Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Alabama A and M University, Huntsville, AL (United States); Heidary, K. [Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Alabama A and M University, Huntsville, AL (United States); Johnson, R.B.; Colon, T. [Department of Physics, Alabama A and M University, Huntsville, AL (United States); Muntele, C. [Cygnus Scientific Services, Huntsville, AL (United States); Ila, D. [Department of Physics, Fayetteville St. University, Fayetteville, NC (United States)

2014-08-15

The performance of thermoelectric materials and devices is characterized by a dimensionless figure of merit, ZT = S{sup 2}σT/K, where, S and σ denote, respectively, the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin and K represents the thermal conductivity. The figure of merit may be improved by means of raising either S or σ or by lowering K. In our laboratory, we have fabricated and characterized the performance of a large variety of thermoelectric generators (TEG). Two TEG groups comprised of 50 and 100 alternating layers of Si/Si + Ge multi-nanolayered superlattice films have been fabricated and thoroughly characterized. Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) was utilized to assemble the alternating sandwiched layers, resulting in total thickness of 300 nm and 317 nm for 50 and 100 layer devices, respectively. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) was employed in order to monitor the precise quantity of Si and Ge utilized in the construction of specific multilayer thin films. The material layers were subsequently impregnated with quantum dots and/or quantum clusters, in order to concurrently reduce the cross plane thermal conductivity, increase the cross plane Seebeck coefficient and raise the cross plane electrical conductivity. The quantum dots/clusters were implanted via the 5 MeV Si ion bombardment which was performed using a Pelletron high energy ion beam accelerator. We have achieved remarkable results for the thermoelectric and optical properties of the Si/Si + Ge multilayer thin film TEG systems. We have demonstrated that with optimal setting of the 5 MeV Si ion beam bombardment fluences, one can fabricate TEG systems with figures of merits substantially higher than the values previously reported.

Strain-free Ge/GeSiSn Quantum Cascade Lasers Based on L-Valley Intersubband Transitions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Soret, R. A; Sun, G; Cheng, H; Menendez, J; Khurgin, J

2007-01-01

The authors propose a Ge/Ge0.76Si0.19Sn0.05 quantum cascade laser using intersubband transitions at L valleys of the conduction band which has a clean offset of 150 meV situated below other energy valleys Gamma and X...

Oxidation kinetics of Si and SiGe by dry rapid thermal oxidation, in-situ steam generation oxidation and dry furnace oxidation

Science.gov (United States)

Rozé, Fabien; Gourhant, Olivier; Blanquet, Elisabeth; Bertin, François; Juhel, Marc; Abbate, Francesco; Pribat, Clément; Duru, Romain

2017-06-01

The fabrication of ultrathin compressively strained SiGe-On-Insulator layers by the condensation technique is likely a key milestone towards low-power and high performances FD-SOI logic devices. However, the SiGe condensation technique still requires challenges to be solved for an optimized use in an industrial environment. SiGe oxidation kinetics, upon which the condensation technique is founded, has still not reached a consensus in spite of various studies which gave insights into the matter. This paper aims to bridge the gaps between these studies by covering various oxidation processes relevant to today's technological needs with a new and quantitative analysis methodology. We thus address oxidation kinetics of SiGe with three Ge concentrations (0%, 10%, and 30%) by means of dry rapid thermal oxidation, in-situ steam generation oxidation, and dry furnace oxidation. Oxide thicknesses in the 50 Å to 150 Å range grown with oxidation temperatures between 850 and 1100 °C were targeted. The present work shows first that for all investigated processes, oxidation follows a parabolic regime even for thin oxides, which indicates a diffusion-limited oxidation regime. We also observe that, for all investigated processes, the SiGe oxidation rate is systematically higher than that of Si. The amplitude of the variation of oxidation kinetics of SiGe with respect to Si is found to be strongly dependent on the process type. Second, a new quantitative analysis methodology of oxidation kinetics is introduced. This methodology allows us to highlight the dependence of oxidation kinetics on the Ge concentration at the oxidation interface, which is modulated by the pile-up mechanism. Our results show that the oxidation rate increases with the Ge concentration at the oxidation interface.

Total dose hardness of a commercial SiGe BiCMOS technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Vonno, N.; Lucas, R.; Thornberry, D.

1999-01-01

Over the past decade SiGe HBT technology has progress from the laboratory to actual commercial applications. When integrated into a BiMOS process, this technology has applications in low-cost space systems. In this paper, we report results of total dose testing of a SiGe/CMOS process accessible through a commercial foundry. (authors)

Thermoelectric energy conversion in layered structures with strained Ge quantum dots grown on Si surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Korotchenkov, Oleg; Nadtochiy, Andriy; Kuryliuk, Vasyl; Wang, Chin-Chi; Li, Pei-Wen; Cantarero, Andres

2014-03-01

The efficiency of the energy conversion devices depends in many ways on the materials used and various emerging cost-effective nanomaterials have promised huge potentials in highly efficient energy conversion. Here we show that thermoelectric voltage can be enhanced by a factor of 3 using layer-cake growth of Ge quantum dots through thermal oxidation of SiGe layers stacked in SiO2/Si3N4 multilayer structure. The key to achieving this behavior has been to strain the Ge/Si interface by Ge dots migrating to Si substrate. Calculations taking into account the carrier trapping in the dot with a quantum transmission into the neighboring dot show satisfactory agreement with experiments above ≈200 K. The results may be of interest for improving the functionality of thermoelectric devices based on Ge/Si.

Single-shot readout of accumulation mode Si/SiGe spin qubits using RF reflectometry

Science.gov (United States)

Volk, Christian; Martins, Frederico; Malinowski, Filip; Marcus, Charles M.; Kuemmeth, Ferdinand

Spin qubits based on gate-defined quantum dots are promising systems for realizing quantum computation. Due to their low concentration of nuclear-spin-carrying isotopes, Si/SiGe heterostructures are of particular interest. While high fidelities have been reported for single-qubit and two-qubit gate operations, qubit initialization and measurement times are relatively slow. In order to develop fast read-out techniques compatible with the operation of spin qubits, we characterize double and triple quantum dots confined in undoped Si/Si0.7Ge0.3 heterostructures using accumulation and depletion gates and a nearby RF charge sensor dot. We implement a RF reflectometry technique that allows single-shot charge read-out at integration times on the order of a few μs. We show our recent advancement towards implementing spin qubits in these structures, including spin-selective single-shot read-out.

Self-Ordered Voids Formation in SiO2 Matrix by Ge Outdiffusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Pivac

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The annealing behavior of very thin SiO2/Ge multilayers deposited on Si substrate by e-gun deposition in high vacuum was explored. It is shown that, after annealing at moderate temperatures (800°C in inert atmosphere, Ge is completely outdiffused from the SiO2 matrix leaving small (about 3 nm spherical voids embedded in the SiO2 matrix. These voids are very well correlated and formed at distances governed by the preexisting multilayer structure (in vertical direction and self-organization (in horizontal direction. The formed films produce intensive photoluminescence (PL with a peak at 500 nm. The explored dynamics of the PL decay show the existence of a very rapid process similar to the one found at Ge/SiO2 defected interface layers.

Fabrication of Coaxial Si(1-x)Ge(x) Heterostructure Nanowires by O(2) Flow-Induced Bifurcate Reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ilsoo; Lee, Ki-Young; Kim, Ungkil; Park, Yong-Hee; Park, Tae-Eon; Choi, Heon-Jin

2010-06-17

We report on bifurcate reactions on the surface of well-aligned Si(1-x)Ge(x) nanowires that enable fabrication of two different coaxial heterostructure nanowires. The Si(1-x)Ge(x) nanowires were grown in a chemical vapor transport process using SiCl(4) gas and Ge powder as a source. After the growth of nanowires, SiCl(4) flow was terminated while O(2) gas flow was introduced under vacuum. On the surface of nanowires was deposited Ge by the vapor from the Ge powder or oxidized into SiO(2) by the O(2) gas. The transition from deposition to oxidation occurred abruptly at 2 torr of O(2) pressure without any intermediate region and enables selectively fabricated Ge/Si(1-x)Ge(x) or SiO(2)/Si(1-x)Ge(x) coaxial heterostructure nanowires. The rate of deposition and oxidation was dominated by interfacial reaction and diffusion of oxygen through the oxide layer, respectively.

SiGe Based Low Temperature Electronics for Lunar Surface Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Mojarradi, Mohammad M.; Kolawa, Elizabeth; Blalock, Benjamin; Cressler, John

2012-01-01

The temperature at the permanently shadowed regions of the moon's surface is approximately -240 C. Other areas of the lunar surface experience temperatures that vary between 120 C and -180 C during the day and night respectively. To protect against the large temperature variations of the moon surface, traditional electronics used in lunar robotics systems are placed inside a thermally controlled housing which is bulky, consumes power and adds complexity to the integration and test. SiGe Based electronics have the capability to operate over wide temperature range like that of the lunar surface. Deploying low temperature SiGe electronics in a lander platform can minimize the need for the central thermal protection system and enable the development of a new generation of landers and mobility platforms with highly efficient distributed architecture. For the past five years a team consisting of NASA, university and industry researchers has been examining the low temperature and wide temperature characteristic of SiGe based transistors for developing electronics for wide temperature needs of NASA environments such as the Moon, Titan, Mars and Europa. This presentation reports on the status of the development of wide temperature SiGe based electronics for the landers and lunar surface mobility systems.

Electronic structure of O-doped SiGe calculated by DFT + U method

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zong-Yan; Yang, Wen; Yang, Pei-Zhi

2016-12-01

To more in depth understand the doping effects of oxygen on SiGe alloys, both the micro-structure and properties of O-doped SiGe (including: bulk, (001) surface, and (110) surface) are calculated by DFT + U method in the present work. The calculated results are as follows. (i) The (110) surface is the main exposing surface of SiGe, in which O impurity prefers to occupy the surface vacancy sites. (ii) For O interstitial doping on SiGe (110) surface, the existences of energy states caused by O doping in the band gap not only enhance the infrared light absorption, but also improve the behaviors of photo-generated carriers. (iii) The finding about decreased surface work function of O-doped SiGe (110) surface can confirm previous experimental observations. (iv) In all cases, O doing mainly induces the electronic structures near the band gap to vary, but is not directly involved in these variations. Therefore, these findings in the present work not only can provide further explanation and analysis for the corresponding underlying mechanism for some of the experimental findings reported in the literature, but also conduce to the development of μc-SiGe-based solar cells in the future. Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province, China (Grant No. 2015FB123), the 18th Yunnan Province Young Academic and Technical Leaders Reserve Talent Project, China (Grant No. 2015HB015), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1037604).

Mechanical, Anisotropic, and Electronic Properties of XN (X = C, Si, Ge): Theoretical Investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhenyang; Liu, Xuhong; Yu, Xinhai; Shi, Chunlei; Wang, Dayun

2017-08-08

The structural, mechanical, elastic anisotropic, and electronic properties of Pbca -XN (X = C, Si, Ge) are investigated in this work using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional, Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof for solids (PBEsol) functional, and Ceperly and Alder, parameterized by Perdew and Zunger (CA-PZ) functional in the framework of density functional theory. The achieved results for the lattice parameters and band gap of Pbca -CN with the PBE functional in this research are in good accordance with other theoretical results. The band structures of Pbca -XN (X = C, Si, Ge) show that Pbca -SiN and Pbca -GeN are both direct band gap semiconductor materials with a band gap of 3.39 eV and 2.22 eV, respectively. Pbca -XN (X = C, Si, Ge) exhibits varying degrees of mechanical anisotropic properties with respect to the Poisson's ratio, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young's modulus, and universal anisotropic index. The (001) plane and (010) plane of Pbca -CN/SiN/GeN both exhibit greater elastic anisotropy in the bulk modulus and Young's modulus than the (100) plane.

Substrate Effects in Wideband SiGe HBT Mixer Circuits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Tom Keinicke; Vidkjær, Jens; Krozer, Viktor

2005-01-01

are also applied to predict short distance substrate coupling effects. Simulation results using extracted equivalent circuit models and substrate coupling networks are compared with experimental results obtained on a wideband mixer circuit implemented in a 0.35 μm, 60 GHz ft SiGe HBT BiCMOS process.......In this paper, the influence from substrate effects on the performance of wideband SiGe HBT mixer circuits is investigated. Equivalent circuit models including substrate networks are extracted from on-wafer test structures and compared with electromagnetic simulations. Electromagnetic simulations...

Surfactant-mediated growth of ultrathin Ge and Si films and their interfaces: Interference-enhanced Raman study

OpenAIRE

Kanakaraju, S; Sood, AK; Mohan, S

2000-01-01

We report on the growth and interfaces of ultrathin polycrystalline Ge and Si films when they are grown on each other using ion beam sputter deposition with and without surfactant at different growth temperatures, studied using interference enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Ge films grown on Si without surfactant show Ge segregation at the interfaces forming an alloy of GexSi1-x as indicated by the Ge-Si Raman mode. However, use of Sb as surfactant strongly suppresses the intermixing. Also Si film...

Crystal growth kinetics in undercooled melts of pure Ge, Si and Ge-Si alloys

Science.gov (United States)

Herlach, Dieter M.; Simons, Daniel; Pichon, Pierre-Yves

2018-01-01

We report on measurements of crystal growth dynamics in semiconducting pure Ge and pure Si melts and in Ge100-xSix (x = 25, 50, 75) alloy melts as a function of undercooling. Electromagnetic levitation techniques are applied to undercool the samples in a containerless way. The growth velocity is measured by the utilization of a high-speed camera technique over an extended range of undercooling. Solidified samples are examined with respect to their microstructure by scanning electron microscopic investigations. We analyse the experimental results of crystal growth kinetics as a function of undercooling within the sharp interface theory developed by Peter Galenko. Transitions of the atomic attachment kinetics are found at large undercoolings, from faceted growth to dendrite growth. This article is part of the theme issue `From atomistic interfaces to dendritic patterns'.

Comparison of band-to-band tunneling models in Si and Si—Ge junctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiao Yipeng; Wang Taihuan; Wei Kangliang; Du Gang; Liu Xiaoyan

2013-01-01

We compared several different band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) models with both Sentaurus and the two-dimensional full-band Monte Carlo simulator in Si homo-junctions and Si—Ge hetero-junctions. It was shown that in Si homo-junctions, different models could achieve similar results. However, in the Si—Ge hetero-junctions, there were significant differences among these models at high reverse biases (over 2 V). Compared to the nonlocal model, the local models in Sentaurus underrated the BTBT rate distinctly, and the Monte Carlo method was shown to give a better approximation. Additionally, it was found that in the Si region near the interface of the Si—Ge hetero-junctions, the direct tunneling rates increased largely due to the interaction of the band structures of Si and Ge. (semiconductor physics)

Strong Electro-Absorption in GeSi Epitaxy on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John E. Cunningham

2012-04-01

Full Text Available We have investigated the selective epitaxial growth of GeSi bulk material on silicon-on-insulator substrates by reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition. We employed AFM, SIMS, and Hall measurements, to characterize the GeSi heteroepitaxy quality. Optimal growth conditions have been identified to achieve low defect density, low RMS roughness with high selectivity and precise control of silicon content. Fabricated vertical p-i-n diodes exhibit very low dark current density of 5 mA/cm² at −1 V bias. Under a 7.5 V/µm E-field, GeSi alloys with 0.6% Si content demonstrate very strong electro-absorption with an estimated effective ∆α/α around 3.5 at 1,590 nm. We compared measured ∆α/α performance to that of bulk Ge. Optical modulation up to 40 GHz is observed in waveguide devices while small signal analysis indicates bandwidth is limited by device parasitics.

Forbidden energy band gap in diluted a-Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}:N films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guarneros, C.; Rebollo-Plata, B. [Posgrado en Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Blvd. 14 Sur 6301, Col. San Manuel, 72570, Puebla (Mexico); Lozada-Morales, R., E-mail: rlozada@fcfm.buap.mx [Posgrado en Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Blvd. 14 Sur 6301, Col. San Manuel, 72570, Puebla (Mexico); Espinosa-Rosales, J.E. [Posgrado en Fisica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Fisico-Matematicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Blvd. 14 Sur 6301, Col. San Manuel, 72570, Puebla (Mexico); Portillo-Moreno, J. [Facultad de Ciencias Quimicas, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Blvd. 14 Sur 6301, Col. San Manuel, 72570, Puebla (Mexico); Zelaya-Angel, O. [Departamento de Fisica, Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, PO Box 14-740, Mexico 07360 D.F. (Mexico)

2012-06-01

By means of electron gun evaporation Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}:N thin films, in the entire range 0 {<=} x {<=} 1, were prepared on Si (100) and glass substrates. The initial vacuum reached was 6.6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} Pa, then a pressure of 2.7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -2} Pa of high purity N{sub 2} was introduced into the chamber. The deposition time was 4 min. Crucible-substrate distance was 18 cm. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that all the films were amorphous (a-Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}:N). The nitrogen concentration was of the order of 1 at% for all the films. From optical absorption spectra data and by using the Tauc method the energy band gap (E{sub g}) was calculated. The Raman spectra only reveal the presence of Si-Si, Ge-Ge, and Si-Ge bonds. Nevertheless, infrared spectra demonstrate the existence of Si-N and Ge-N bonds. The forbidden energy band gap (E{sub g}) as a function of x in the entire range 0 {<=} x {<=} 1 shows two well defined regions: 0 {<=} x {<=} 0.67 and 0.67 {<=} x {<=} 1, due to two different behaviors of the band gap, where for x > 0.67 exists an abruptly change of E{sub g}(x). In this case E{sub g}(x) versus x is different to the variation of E{sub g} in a-Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x} and a-Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x}:H. This fact can be related to the formation of Ge{sub 3}N{sub 4} and GeSi{sub 2}N{sub 4} when x {<=} 0.67, and to the formation of Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} and GeSi{sub 2}N{sub 4} for 0.67 {<=} x. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Nitrogen doped amorphous Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x} thin films are grown by electron gun technique. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Nitrogen atoms on E{sub g} of the a-Ge{sub 1-x}Si{sub x} films in the 0 Pound-Sign x Pound-Sign 1 range are analyzed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Variation in 0 Pound-Sign x Pound-Sign 1 range shows a warped change of E{sub g} in 1.0 - 3.6 eV range. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The change in E{sub g}(x) behavior when x {approx} 0.67 was associated with Ge{sub 2}SiN{sub 4

Group IVA Element (Si, Ge, Sn)-Based Alloying/Dealloying Anodes as Negative Electrodes for Full-Cell Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dequan; Liu, Zheng Jiao; Li, Xiuwan; Xie, Wenhe; Wang, Qi; Liu, Qiming; Fu, Yujun; He, Deyan

2017-12-01

To satisfy the increasing energy demands of portable electronics, electric vehicles, and miniaturized energy storage devices, improvements to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are required to provide higher energy/power densities and longer cycle lives. Group IVA element (Si, Ge, Sn)-based alloying/dealloying anodes are promising candidates for use as electrodes in next-generation LIBs owing to their extremely high gravimetric and volumetric capacities, low working voltages, and natural abundances. However, due to the violent volume changes that occur during lithium-ion insertion/extraction and the formation of an unstable solid electrolyte interface, the use of Group IVA element-based anodes in commercial LIBs is still a great challenge. Evaluating the electrochemical performance of an anode in a full-cell configuration is a key step in investigating the possible application of the active material in LIBs. In this regard, the recent progress and important approaches to overcoming and alleviating the drawbacks of Group IVA element-based anode materials are reviewed, such as the severe volume variations during cycling and the relatively brittle electrode/electrolyte interface in full-cell LIBs. Finally, perspectives and future challenges in achieving the practical application of Group IVA element-based anodes in high-energy and high-power-density LIB systems are proposed. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Model-independent determination of the strain distribution for a SiGe/Si superlattice using X-ray diffractometry data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikulin, A.Y.; Stevenson, A.W.; Hashizume, H.

1996-01-01

The strain distribution in a Si 0.9 Ge 0.l/Si superlattice is determined from x-ray diffractometry data with a 25 Angstroms depth resolution. A logarithmic dispersion relation is used to determine the phase of the structure factor with information available a priori on the sample structure. Phase information is obtained from the observed reflection intensity via a logarithmic Hilbert transform and the a priori information is used to select the zeros to be included in the solution. The reconstructed lattice strain profile clearly resolves SiGe and Si layers of 90 - 160 Angstroms thickness alternately stacked on a silicon substrate. The SiGe layer is found to have a lattice spacing in the surface-normal direction significantly smaller than predicted by Vegard's law. The result is supported by very good agreement of the simulated rocking curve profile with the observation. 18 refs., 1 tab., 5 figs

Effect of Synthesis Procedure on Thermoelectric Property of SiGe Alloy

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jing; Han, Jun; Jiang, Tao; Luo, Lili; Xiang, Yongchun

2018-05-01

SiGe thermoelectric material has been synthesized by ball milling combined with hot pressing (HP) or spark plasma sintering (SPS). Effects of ball milling time, powder to ball weight ratio and sintering method on microstructure and thermoelectric properties of SiGe are studied. The results show that longer ball milling time leads to decreased density and worse electrical properties. In the sintering process, SPS results in much larger density and better electrical properties than HP. The Si0.795Ge0.2B0.005 sample prepared by 2 h ball milling combined with SPS obtains a maximum power factor of 3.0 mW m-1 K-2 at 860 K and ZT of 0.95 at 1000 K.

Improvement of photoluminescence from Ge layer with patterned Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oda, Katsuya, E-mail: Katsuya.Oda.cb@hitachi.com; Okumura, Tadashi; Tani, Kazuki; Saito, Shin-ichi; Ido, Tatemi

2014-04-30

Lattice strain applied by patterned Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors in order to improve the optical properties of Ge layers directly grown on a Si substrate was investigated. Patterned Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors were fabricated by various methods and their effects on the strain and photoluminescence were studied. Although we found that when the stressor was fabricated by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the Ge waveguide was tensilely and compressively strained in the edge and center positions, respectively, and photoluminescence (PL) could be improved by decreasing the width of the waveguide, the crystallinity of the Ge waveguide was degraded by the thermal impact of the deposition process. Low-temperature methods were therefore used to make the patterned stressors. The tensile strain of the Ge layer increased from 0.14% to 0.2% when the stressor was grown by plasma enhanced CVD at 350 °C, but the effects of the increased tensile strain could not be confirmed because the Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} layer was unstable when irradiated with the excitation light used in photoluminescence measurements. Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors grown by inductively coupled plasma CVD at room temperature increased the tensile strain of the Ge layer up to 0.4%, thus red-shifting the PL peak and obviously increasing the PL intensity. These results indicate that the Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors fabricated by the room-temperature process efficiently improve the performance of Ge light-emitting devices. - Highlights: • Ge layers were directly grown on a Si substrate by low-temperature epitaxial growth. • Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors were fabricated on the Ge layers by various methods. • Tensile strain of the Ge layers was improved by the Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors. • Photoluminescence (PL) intensity was increased with the Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} stressors. • Red-shift of the PL spectra was observed from the tensile strained Ge layers.

Analysis of Strain and Intermixing in a Single Layer Ge/Si dots using polarized Raman Spectroscopy

OpenAIRE

PEROVA, TANIA; MOORE, ROBERT

2006-01-01

PUBLISHED The built-in strain and composition of as-grown and Si-capped single layers of Ge?Si dots grown at various temperatures (460?800 ?C) are studied by a comparative analysis of the Ge-Ge and Si-Ge modes in the polarized Raman spectra of the dots. A pronounced reduction of the strain and Ge content in the dots after deposition of the cap layer at low temperatures is observed, indicating that strain-induced Si diffusion from the cap layer is occurring. For large dots grown at 700?800...

Improving the opto-microwave performance of SiGe/Si phototransistor through edge-illuminated structure

Science.gov (United States)

Tegegne, Z. G.; Viana, C.; Polleux, J. L.; Grzeskowiak, M.; Richalot, E.

2016-03-01

This paper demonstrates the experimental study of edge and top illuminated SiGe phototransistors (HPT) implemented using the existing industrial SiGe2RF Telefunken GmbH BiCMOS technology for opto-microwave (OM) applications using 850nm Multi-Mode Fibers (MMF). Its technology and structure are described. Two different optical window size HPTs with top illumination (5x5μm2, 10x10μm2) and an edge illuminated HPTs having 5μm x5μm size are presented and compared. A two-step post fabrication process was used to create an optical access on the edge of the HPT for lateral illumination with a lensed MMF through simple polishing and dicing techniques. We perform Opto-microwave Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (OM-SNOM) analysis on edge and top illuminated HPTs in order to observe the fastest and the highest sensitive regions of the HPTs. This analysis also allows understanding the parasitic effect from the substrate, and thus draws a conclusion on the design aspect of SiGe/Si HPT. A low frequency OM responsivity of 0.45A/W and a cutoff frequency, f-3dB, of 890MHz were measured for edge illuminated HPT. Compared to the top illuminated HPT of the same size, the edge illuminated HPT improves the f-3dB by a factor of more than two and also improves the low frequency responsivity by a factor of more than four. These results demonstrate that a simple etched HPT is still enough to achieve performance improvements compared to the top illuminated HPT without requiring a complex coupling structure. Indeed, it also proves the potential of edge coupled SiGe HPT in the ultra-low-cost silicon based optoelectronics circuits with a new approach of the optical packaging and system integration to 850nm MMF.

Influence of the crystallization process on the luminescence of multilayers of SiGe nanocrystals embedded in SiO2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avella, M.; Prieto, A.C.; Jimenez, J.; Rodriguez, A.; Sangrador, J.; Rodriguez, T.; Ortiz, M.I.; Ballesteros, C.

2008-01-01

Multilayers of SiGe nanocrystals embedded in an oxide matrix have been fabricated by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition of SiGe and SiO 2 onto Si wafers (in a single run at 390 deg. C and 50 mTorr, using GeH 4 , Si 2 H 6 and O 2 ) followed by a rapid thermal annealing treatment to crystallize the SiGe nanoparticles. The main emission band is located at 400 nm in both cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence experiments at 80 K and also at room temperature. The annealing conditions (temperatures ranging from 700 to 1000 deg. C and for times of 30 and 60 s) have been investigated in samples with different diameter of the nanoparticles (from ∼3 to ≥5 nm) and oxide interlayer thickness (15 and 35 nm) in order to establish a correlation between the crystallization of the nanoparticles, the degradation of their composition by Ge diffusion and the intensity of the luminescence emission band. Structures with small nanoparticles (3-4.5 nm) separated by thick oxide barriers (∼35 nm) annealed at 900 deg. C for 60 s yield the maximum intensity of the luminescence. An additional treatment at 450 deg. C in forming gas for dangling-bond passivation increases the intensity of the luminescence band by 25-30%

Stable and low contact resistance electrical contacts for high temperature SiGe thermoelectric generators

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Bo; Zheng, Tao; Wang, Qingxiao; Guo, Zaibing; Kim, Moon J.; Alshareef, Husam N.; Gnade, Bruce E.

2018-01-01

that no interdiffusion takes place between TaAlN and SiGe. A specific contact resistivity of (2.1±1.3)×10−6Ω-cm2 for p-type SiGe and (2.8±1.6)×10−5 Ω-cm2 for n-type SiGe is demonstrated after the high temperature annealing. These results show that TaAlN is a promising

X-ray characterization of Ge dots epitaxially grown on nanostructured Si islands on silicon-on-insulator substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaumseil, Peter; Kozlowski, Grzegorz; Yamamoto, Yuji; Schubert, Markus Andreas; Schroeder, Thomas

2013-08-01

On the way to integrate lattice mismatched semiconductors on Si(001), the Ge/Si heterosystem was used as a case study for the concept of compliant substrate effects that offer the vision to be able to integrate defect-free alternative semiconductor structures on Si. Ge nanoclusters were selectively grown by chemical vapour deposition on Si nano-islands on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. The strain states of Ge clusters and Si islands were measured by grazing-incidence diffraction using a laboratory-based X-ray diffraction technique. A tensile strain of up to 0.5% was detected in the Si islands after direct Ge deposition. Using a thin (∼10 nm) SiGe buffer layer between Si and Ge the tensile strain increases to 1.8%. Transmission electron microscopy studies confirm the absence of a regular grid of misfit dislocations in such structures. This clear experimental evidence for the compliance of Si nano-islands on SOI substrates opens a new integration concept that is not only limited to Ge but also extendable to semiconductors like III-V and II-VI materials.

Carrier confinement in Ge/Si quantum dots grown with an intermediate ultrathin oxide layer

Science.gov (United States)

Kuryliuk, V.; Korotchenkov, O.; Cantarero, A.

2012-02-01

We present computational results for strain effects on charge carrier confinement in GexSi1-x quantum dots (QDs) grown on an oxidized Si surface. The strain and free carrier probability density distributions are obtained using the continuum elasticity theory and the effective-mass approximation implemented by a finite-element modeling scheme. Using realistic parameters and conditions for hemisphere and pyramid QDs, it is pointed out that an uncapped hemisphere dot deposited on the Si surface with an intermediate ultrathin oxide layer offers advantageous electron-hole separation distances with respect to a square-based pyramid grown directly on Si. The enhanced separation is associated with a larger electron localization depth in the Si substrate for uncapped hemisphere dots. Thus, for dot diameters smaller than 15-20 nm and surface density of the dots (nQD) ranging from about 1010 to 1012 cm-2, the localization depth may be enhanced from about 8 nm for a pyramid to 38 nm for a hemisphere dot. We find that the effect in a hemisphere dot is very sensitive to the dot density and size, whereas the localization depth is not significantly affected by the variation of the Ge fraction x in GexSi1-x and the aspect ratio of the dot. We also calculate the effect of the fixed oxide charge (Qox) with densities ranging from 10-9 to 10-7 C/cm2 for 10-Ωcm p-type Si wafers on the carrier confinement. Although the confinement potential can be strongly perturbed by the charge at nQD less than ≈4×1011 cm-2, it is not very sensitive to the value of Qox at higher nQD. Since, to our knowledge, there are no data on carrier confinement for Ge QDs deposited on oxidized Si surfaces, these results might be applicable to functional devices utilizing separated electrons and holes such as photovoltaic devices, spin transistors, and quantum computing components. The use of hemisphere QDs placed on oxidized Si rather than pyramid dots grown on bare Si may help to confine charge carriers deeper

Electron Spin Coherence Times in Si/SiGe Quantum Dots

Science.gov (United States)

Jock, R. M.; He, Jianhua; Tyryshkin, A. M.; Lyon, S. A.; Lee, C.-H.; Huang, S.-H.; Liu, C. W.

2014-03-01

Single electron spin states in silicon have shown a great deal of promise as qubits due to their long spin relaxation (T1) and coherence (T2) times. Recent results exhibit a T2 of 250 us for electrons confined in Si/SiGe quantum dots at 350 mK. These experiments used conventional X-band (10 GHz) pulsed Electron Spin Resonance on a large area (3.5 mm x 20 mm), dual-gated, undoped Si/SiGe heterostructure quantum dots. These dots are induced in a natural Si quantum well by e-beam defined gates having a lithographic radius of 150 nm and pitch of 700 nm. The relatively large size of these dots led to closely spaced energy levels and long T2's could only be measured at sub-Kelvin temperatures. At 2K confined electrons displayed a 3 us T2, which is comparable to that of 2D electrons at that temperature. Decreasing the quantum dot size increases the electron confinement and reduces the effects of valley-splitting and spin-orbit coupling on the electron spin coherence times. We will report results on dots with 80 nm lithographic radii and a 375 nm pitch. This device displays an extended electron coherence time of 30 us at 2K, suggesting tighter confinement of electrons. Further measurements at lower temperatures are in progress. This work was supported in part by NSF through the Materials World Network program (DMR-1107606) and the Princeton MRSEC (DMR-0819860), and in part by the U.S. Army Research Office (W911NF-13-1-0179).

Thermally oxidized formation of new Ge dots over as-grown Ge dots in the Si capping layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nie Tianxiao; Lin Jinhui; Shao Yuanmin; Wu Yueqin; Yang Xinju; Fan Yongliang; Jiang Zuimin; Chen Zhigang; Zou Jin

2011-01-01

A Si-capped Ge quantum dot sample was self-assembly grown via Stranski-Krastanov mode in a molecular beam epitaxy system with the Si capping layer deposited at 300 deg. C. After annealing the sample in an oxygen atmosphere at 1000 deg. C, a structure, namely two layers of quantum dots, was formed with the newly formed Ge-rich quantum dots embedded in the oxidized matrix with the position accurately located upon the as-grown quantum dots. It has been found that the formation of such nanostructures strongly depends upon the growth temperature and oxygen atmosphere. A growth mechanism was proposed to explain the formation of the nanostructure based on the Ge diffusion from the as-grown quantum dots, Ge segregation from the growing oxide, and subsequent migration/agglomeration.

Self-Ordered Voids Formation in SiO2 Matrix by Ge Outdiffusion

OpenAIRE

B. Pivac; P. Dubček; J. Dasović; H. Zorc; S. Bernstorff; J. Zavašnik; B. Vlahovic

2018-01-01

The annealing behavior of very thin SiO2/Ge multilayers deposited on Si substrate by e-gun deposition in high vacuum was explored. It is shown that, after annealing at moderate temperatures (800°C) in inert atmosphere, Ge is completely outdiffused from the SiO2 matrix leaving small (about 3 nm) spherical voids embedded in the SiO2 matrix. These voids are very well correlated and formed at distances governed by the preexisting multilayer structure (in vertical direction) and self-organization ...

Effects of carbon on phosphorus diffusion in SiGe:C and the implications on phosphorus diffusion mechanisms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Yiheng; Xia, Guangrui; Yasuda, Hiroshi; Wise, Rick; Schiekofer, Manfred; Benna, Bernhard

2014-01-01

The use of carbon (C) in SiGe base layers is an important approach to control the base layer dopant phosphorus (P) diffusion and thus enhance PNP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) performance. This work quantitatively investigated the carbon impacts on P diffusion in Si 0.82 Ge 0.18 :C and Si:C under rapid thermal anneal conditions. The carbon molar fraction is up to 0.32%. The results showed that the carbon retardation effect on P diffusion is less effective for Si 0.82 Ge 0.18 :C than for Si:C. In Si 0.82 Ge 0.18 :C, there is an optimum carbon content at around 0.05% to 0.1%, beyond which more carbon incorporation does not retard P diffusion any more. This behavior is different from the P diffusion behavior in Si:C and the B in Si:C and low Ge SiGe:C, which can be explained by the decreased interstitial-mediated diffusion fraction f I P, SiGe to 95% as Ge content increases to 18%. Empirical models were established to calculate the time-averaged point defect concentrations and effective diffusivities as a function of carbon and was shown to agree with previous studies on boron, phosphorus, arsenic and antimony diffusion with carbon.

SiGe HBTs Optimization for Wireless Power Amplifier Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre-Marie Mans

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with SiGe HBTs optimization for power amplifier applications dedicated to wireless communications. In this work, we investigate the fT-BVCEO tradeoff by various collector optimization schemes such as epilayer thickness and dopant concentration, and SIC and CAP characteristics. Furthermore, a new trapezoidal base Germanium (Ge profile is proposed. Thanks to this profile, precise control of Ge content at the metallurgical emitter-base junction is obtained. Gain stability is obtained for a wide range of temperatures through tuning the emitter-base junction Ge percent. Finally, a comprehensive investigation of Ge introduction into the collector (backside Ge profile is conducted in order to improve the fT values at high injection levels.

The low-lying quartet electronic states of group 14 diatomic borides XB (X = C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb)

Science.gov (United States)

Pontes, Marcelo A. P.; de Oliveira, Marcos H.; Fernandes, Gabriel F. S.; Da Motta Neto, Joaquim D.; Ferrão, Luiz F. A.; Machado, Francisco B. C.

2018-04-01

The present work focuses in the characterization of the low-lying quartet electronic and spin-orbit states of diatomic borides XB, in which X is an element of group 14 (C, Si, Ge, Sn, PB). The wavefunction was obtained at the CASSCF/MRCI level with a quintuple-ζ quality basis set. Scalar relativistic effects were also taken into account. A systematic and comparative analysis of the spectroscopic properties for the title molecular series was carried out, showing that the (1)4Π→X4Σ- transition band is expected to be measurable by emission spectroscopy to the GeB, SnB and PbB molecules, as already observed for the lighter CB and SiB species.

Metal-Free CVD Graphene Synthesis on 200 mm Ge/Si(001) Substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Lukosius, M; Dabrowski, J; Kitzmann, J; Fursenko, O; Akhtar, F; Lisker, M; Lippert, G; Schulze, S; Yamamoto, Y; Schubert, M A; Krause, H M; Wolff, A; Mai, A; Schroeder, T; Lupina, G

2016-12-14

Good quality, complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology compatible, 200 mm graphene was obtained on Ge(001)/Si(001) wafers in this work. Chemical vapor depositions were carried out at the deposition temperatures of 885 °C using CH 4 as carbon source on epitaxial Ge(100) layers, which were grown on Si(100), prior to the graphene synthesis. Graphene layer with the 2D/G ratio ∼3 and low D mode (i.e., low concentration of defects) was measured over the entire 200 mm wafer by Raman spectroscopy. A typical full-width-at-half-maximum value of 39 cm -1 was extracted for the 2D mode, further indicating that graphene of good structural quality was produced. The study also revealed that the lack of interfacial oxide correlates with superior properties of graphene. In order to evaluate electrical properties of graphene, its 2 × 2 cm 2 pieces were transferred onto SiO 2 /Si substrates from Ge/Si wafers. The extracted sheet resistance and mobility values of transferred graphene layers were ∼1500 ± 100 Ω/sq and μ ≈ 400 ± 20 cm 2 /V s, respectively. The transferred graphene was free of metallic contaminations or mechanical damage. On the basis of results of DFT calculations, we attribute the high structural quality of graphene grown by CVD on Ge to hydrogen-induced reduction of nucleation probability, explain the appearance of graphene-induced facets on Ge(001) as a kinetic effect caused by surface step pinning at linear graphene nuclei, and clarify the orientation of graphene domains on Ge(001) as resulting from good lattice matching between Ge(001) and graphene nucleated on such nuclei.

Formation of Ge dot or film in Ge/Si heterostructure by using sub-monolayer carbon deposition on top and in-situ post annealing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itoh, Yuhki, E-mail: itoh.yuhki@ecei.tohoku.ac.jp; Hatakeyama, Shinji; Kawashima, Tomoyuki; Washio, Katsuyoshi

2016-03-01

Effects of carbon (C) atoms on solid-phase epitaxial growth of Ge on Si(100) have been studied. C and Ge layers were deposited on Si(100) substrates at low temperature (150–300 °C) by using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system and subsequently annealed at 650 °C in the MBE chamber. The surface morphology after annealing changed depending on deposited amounts of C and deposition temperature of Ge. Ge dots were formed for small amounts of C while smooth Ge films were formed by large amounts of C varying with the Ge deposition temperature. The surface morphology after annealing was also affected by the as-deposited Ge crystallinity. The change in surface morphology depending on the amounts of deposited C was considered to be affected by the formation of Ge–C bonds which relieved the misfit strain between Ge and Si. The crystallinity of Ge deteriorated with increasing C coverage due to the incorporation of insoluble C atoms in the shape of both dots and films. - Highlights: • Effects of carbon on solid-phase epitaxy of C/Ge/Si(100) were studied. • Surface morphology changed depending on C amounts and Ge deposition temperature. • Solid-phase growth of Ge changed from large dots to smooth films with C coverage. • Transition of surface morphology was affected by the formation of Ge–C bonds.

Quantum confinement in Si and Ge nanostructures: Theory and experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbagiovanni, Eric G.; Lockwood, David J.; Simpson, Peter J.; Goncharova, Lyudmila V.

2014-01-01

The role of quantum confinement (QC) in Si and Ge nanostructures (NSs) including quantum dots, quantum wires, and quantum wells is assessed under a wide variety of fabrication methods in terms of both their structural and optical properties. Structural properties include interface states, defect states in a matrix material, and stress, all of which alter the electronic states and hence the measured optical properties. We demonstrate how variations in the fabrication method lead to differences in the NS properties, where the most relevant parameters for each type of fabrication method are highlighted. Si embedded in, or layered between, SiO 2 , and the role of the sub-oxide interface states embodies much of the discussion. Other matrix materials include Si 3 N 4 and Al 2 O 3 . Si NSs exhibit a complicated optical spectrum, because the coupling between the interface states and the confined carriers manifests with varying magnitude depending on the dimension of confinement. Ge NSs do not produce well-defined luminescence due to confined carriers, because of the strong influence from oxygen vacancy defect states. Variations in Si and Ge NS properties are considered in terms of different theoretical models of QC (effective mass approximation, tight binding method, and pseudopotential method). For each theoretical model, we discuss the treatment of the relevant experimental parameters

Mechanical, Anisotropic, and Electronic Properties of XN (X = C, Si, Ge): Theoretical Investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhenyang; Liu, Xuhong; Yu, Xinhai; Shi, Chunlei; Wang, Dayun

2017-01-01

The structural, mechanical, elastic anisotropic, and electronic properties of Pbca-XN (X = C, Si, Ge) are investigated in this work using the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) functional, Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof for solids (PBEsol) functional, and Ceperly and Alder, parameterized by Perdew and Zunger (CA–PZ) functional in the framework of density functional theory. The achieved results for the lattice parameters and band gap of Pbca-CN with the PBE functional in this research are in good accordance with other theoretical results. The band structures of Pbca-XN (X = C, Si, Ge) show that Pbca-SiN and Pbca-GeN are both direct band gap semiconductor materials with a band gap of 3.39 eV and 2.22 eV, respectively. Pbca-XN (X = C, Si, Ge) exhibits varying degrees of mechanical anisotropic properties with respect to the Poisson’s ratio, bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus, and universal anisotropic index. The (001) plane and (010) plane of Pbca-CN/SiN/GeN both exhibit greater elastic anisotropy in the bulk modulus and Young’s modulus than the (100) plane. PMID:28786960

Si0.85Ge0.15 oxynitridation in nitric oxide/nitrous oxide ambient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dasgupta, Anindya; Takoudis, Christos G.; Lei Yuanyuan; Browning, Nigel D.

2003-01-01

Low temperature, nitric oxide (NO)/nitrous oxide (N 2 O) aided, sub-35 Aa Si 0.85 Ge 0.15 oxynitrides have been grown at 550 and 650 deg. C, while the oxynitridation feed gases have been preheated to 900 and 1000 deg. C, respectively, before entering the reaction zone. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) data suggest that NO-assisted oxynitridation incorporates more nitrogen than the N 2 O-assisted one, while there is minimal Ge segregation towards the dielectric/substrate interface in both oxynitridation processes. Moreover, SIMS results suggest that nitrogen is distributed throughout the film in contrast to high temperature Si oxynitridation, where nitrogen incorporation takes place near the dielectric/substrate interface. Z-contrast imaging with scanning transmission electron microscopy shows that the oxynitride grown in NO at 650 degree sign C has a sharp interface with the bulk Si 0.85 Ge 0.15 , while the roughness of the dielectric/Si 0.85 Ge 0.15 substrate interface is less than 2 Aa. These results are discussed in the context of an overall mechanism of SiGe oxynitridation

Hole spin coherence in a Ge/Si heterostructure nanowire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Higginbotham, Andrew P; Larsen, Thorvald Wadum; Yao, Jun

2014-01-01

Relaxation and dephasing of hole spins are measured in a gate-defined Ge/Si nanowire double quantum dot using a fast pulsed-gate method and dispersive readout. An inhomogeneous dephasing time T2(*)≈ 0.18 μs exceeds corresponding measurements in III-V semiconductors by more than an order of magnit......Relaxation and dephasing of hole spins are measured in a gate-defined Ge/Si nanowire double quantum dot using a fast pulsed-gate method and dispersive readout. An inhomogeneous dephasing time T2(*)≈ 0.18 μs exceeds corresponding measurements in III-V semiconductors by more than an order...

Interwell coupling effect in Si/SiGe quantum wells grown by ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loh Ter-Hoe

2007-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractSi/Si0.66Ge0.34coupled quantum well (CQW structures with different barrier thickness of 40, 4 and 2 nm were grown on Si substrates using an ultra high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD system. The samples were characterized using high resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM and photoluminescence (PL spectroscopy. Blue shift in PL peak energy due to interwell coupling was observed in the CQWs following increase in the Si barrier thickness. The Si/SiGe heterostructure growth process and theoretical band structure model was validated by comparing the energy of the no-phonon peak calculated by the 6 + 2-bandk·pmethod with experimental PL data. Close agreement between theoretical calculations and experimental data was obtained.

Formation Mechanism of Ge Nanocrystals Embedded in SiO2 Studied by Fluorescence X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Wensheng; Li Zhongrui; Sun Zhihu; Wei Shiqiang; Kolobov, A. V.

2007-01-01

The formation mechanism of Ge nanocrystals for Ge (60 mol%) embedded in a SiO2 matrix grown on Si(001) and quartz-glass substrates was studied by fluorescence x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS). It was found that the formation of Ge nanocrystals strongly depends on the properties of the substrate materials. In the as-prepared samples, Ge atoms exist in amorphous Ge and GeO2 phases. At the annealing temperature of 1073 K, on the quartz-glass substrate, Ge nanocrystals are only formed predominantly from the amorphous Ge phase in the as-prepared sample. However, on the Si(100) substrate the Ge nanocrystals are generated partly from amorphous Ge, and partly from GeO2 phases through the permutation reaction with Si substrate. Quantitative analysis revealed that about 10% of GeO2 in as-prepared sample permutated with Si in the wafer and formed Ge nanocrystals

Vacuum deposition and pulsed modification of Ge thin films on Si. Structure and photoluminescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batalov, R.I.; Bayazitov, R.M.; Novikov, G.A.; Shustov, V.A.; Bizyaev, D.A.; Gajduk, P.I.; Ivlev, G.D.; Prokop'ev, S.L.

2013-01-01

Vacuum deposition of Ge thin films onto Si substrates by magnetron sputtering was studied. During deposition sputtering time and substrate temperature were varied. Nanosecond pulsed annealing of deposited films by powerful laser or ion beams was performed. The dependence of the structure and optical properties of Ge/Si films on parameters of pulsed treatments was investigated. Optimum parameters of deposition and pulsed treatments resulting into light emitting monocrystalline Ge/Si layers are determined. (authors)

Characterization of Nanocrystalline SiGe Thin Film Solar Cell with Double Graded-Dead Absorption Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao-Chun Wang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The nanocrystalline silicon-germanium (nc-SiGe thin films were deposited by high-frequency (27.12 MHz plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (HF-PECVD. The films were used in a silicon-based thin film solar cell with graded-dead absorption layer. The characterization of the nc-SiGe films are analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. The band gap of SiGe alloy can be adjusted between 0.8 and 1.7 eV by varying the gas ratio. For thin film solar cell application, using double graded-dead i-SiGe layers mainly leads to an increase in short-circuit current and therefore cell conversion efficiency. An initial conversion efficiency of 5.06% and the stabilized efficiency of 4.63% for an nc-SiGe solar cell were achieved.

Different strain relaxation mechanisms in strained Si/Si sub 1 sub - sub x Ge sub x /Si heterostructures by high dose B sup + and BF sub 2 sup + doping

CERN Document Server

Chen, C C; Zhang, S L; Zhu, D Z; Vantomme, A

2002-01-01

Strained Si/Si sub 0 sub . sub 8 Ge sub 0 sub . sub 2 /Si heterostructures are implanted at room temperature with 7.5 keV B sup + and 33 keV BF sub 2 sup + ions to a high dose of 2x10 sup 1 sup 5 ions/cm sup 2 , respectively. The samples are subsequently subjected to three-step anneals (spacer anneal, oxidation anneal and rapid thermal anneal), which are used to simulate a real fabrication process of SiGe-based MOSFET devices. The damage induced by implantation and its recovery are characterized by 2 MeV sup 4 He sup + RBS/channeling spectrometry. A damage layer on the surface is induced by B sup + implantation, but BF sup + sub 2 ion implantation amorphizes the surface of Si/Si sub 0 sub . sub 8 Ge sub 0 sub . sub 2 /Si heterostructure. Channeling angular scans along the axial direction demonstrate that the strain stored in the SiGe layer could be nearly completely retained for the B sup + implanted and subsequently annealed sample. However, the strain in the BF sub 2 sup + implanted/annealed SiGe layer has...

High-aspect-ratio and high-flatness Cu3(SiGe) nanoplatelets prepared by chemical vapor deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Klementová, Mariana; Palatinus, Lukás; Novotný, Filip; Fajgar, Radek; Subrt, Jan; Drínek, Vladislav

2013-06-01

Cu3(SiGe) nanoplatelets were synthesized by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition of a SiH3C2H5/Ge2(CH3)6 mixture on a Cu-substrate at 500 degrees C, total pressure of 110-115 Pa, and Ge/Si molar ratio of 22. The nanoplatelets with composition Cu76Si15Ge12 are formed by the 4'-phase, and they are flattened perpendicular to the [001] direction. Their lateral dimensions reach several tens of micrometers in size, but they are only about 50 nm thick. Their surface is extremely flat, with measured root mean square roughness R(q) below 0.2 nm. The nanoplatelets grow via the non-catalytic vapor-solid mechanism and surface growth. In addition, nanowires and nanorods of various Cu-Si-Ge alloys were also obtained depending on the experimental conditions. Morphology of the resulting Cu-Si-Ge nanoobjects is very sensitive to the experimental parameters. The formation of nanoplatelets is associated with increased amount of Ge in the alloy.

Full-Field Strain Mapping at a Ge/Si Heterostructure Interface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buwen Cheng

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The misfit dislocations and strain fields at a Ge/Si heterostructure interface were investigated experimentally using a combination of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and quantitative electron micrograph analysis methods. The type of misfit dislocation at the interface was determined to be 60° dislocation and 90° full-edge dislocation. The full-field strains at the Ge/Si heterostructure interface were mapped by using the geometric phase analysis (GPA and peak pairs analysis (PPA, respectively. The effect of the mask size on the GPA and PPA results was analyzed in detail. For comparison, the theoretical strain fields of the misfit dislocations were also calculated by the Peierls-Nabarro and Foreman dislocation models. The results showed that the optimal mask sizes in GPA and PPA were approximately three tenths and one-tenth of the reciprocal lattice vector, respectively. The Foreman dislocation model with an alterable factor a = 4 can best describe the strain field of the misfit dislocation at the Ge/Si heterostructure interface.

Sulfur passivation for the formation of Si-terminated Al{sub 2}O{sub 3/}SiGe(0 0 1) interfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sardashti, Kasra [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Hu, Kai-Ting [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Tang, Kechao [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, CA (United States); Park, Sangwook; Kim, Hyonwoong [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); Madisetti, Shailesh [Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany—State University of New York, Albany, NY (United States); McIntyre, Paul [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, CA (United States); Oktyabrsky, Serge [Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany—State University of New York, Albany, NY (United States); Siddiqui, Shariq; Sahu, Bhagawan [TD Research, GLOBALFOUNDRIES USA, Inc., Albany, NY (United States); Yoshida, Noami; Kachian, Jessica [Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States); Kummel, Andrew, E-mail: akummel@ucsd.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States)

2016-03-15

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Effect of wet sulfur passivation on the electrical properties of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/SiGe(0 0 1) interfaces has been determined. • EOT of 2.1 nm has been achieved for ALD Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} deposited directly on SiGe(0 0 1) surfaces. • Sulfur passivation has been found to passivate the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interface with Si−O−Al bonds. • Sulfur passivation is found to significantly reduce the GeO{sub x} or Ge−O−Al content at the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/SiGe interface therefore improving the reliability. • Sulfur passivation extends the surface stability prior to oxide ALD to up to an hour with no dramatic change in D{sub it}, C{sub ox} or V{sub FB} of the resulting devices. - Abstract: Sulfur passivation is used to electrically and chemically passivate the silicon–germanium (SiGe) surfaces before and during the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of aluminum oxide (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}). The electrical properties of the interfaces were examined by variable frequency capacitance–voltage (C–V) spectroscopy. Interface compositions were determined by angle-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AR-XPS). The sulfur adsorbs to a large fraction of surface sites on the SiGe(0 0 1) surface, protecting the surface from deleterious surface reactions during processing. Sulfur passivation (a) improved the air stability of the cleaned surfaces prior to ALD, (b) increased the stability of the surface during high-temperature deposition, and (c) increased the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} ALD nucleation density on SiGe, thereby lowering the leakage current. S passivation suppressed formation of Ge−O bonds at the interface, leaving the majority of the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}–SiGe interface terminated with direct Si−O−Al bonding.

Enhanced photoluminescence of multilayer Ge quantum dots on Si(001) substrates by increased overgrowth temperature.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi; Cheng, Buwen; Hu, Weixuan; Su, Shaojian; Li, Chuanbo; Wang, Qiming

2012-07-11

Four-bilayer Ge quantum dots (QDs) with Si spacers were grown on Si(001) substrates by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition. In three samples, all Ge QDs were grown at 520 °C, while Si spacers were grown at various temperatures (520 °C, 550 °C, and 580 °C). Enhancement and redshift of room temperature photoluminescence (PL) were observed from the samples in which Si spacers were grown at a higher temperature. The enhancement of PL is explained by higher effective electrons capturing in the larger size Ge QDs. Quantum confinement of the Ge QDs is responsible for the redshift of PL spectra. The Ge QDs' size and content were investigated by atomic force microscopy and Raman scattering measurements.

Atomic-scale Ge diffusion in strained Si revealed by quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Radtke, G.; Favre, L.; Couillard, M.; Amiard, G.; Berbezier, I.; Botton, G. A.

2013-05-01

Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy is employed to investigate the local chemistry in the vicinity of a Si0.8Ge0.2/Si interface grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. Atomic-resolution high-angle annular dark field contrast reveals the presence of a nonuniform diffusion of Ge from the substrate into the strained Si thin film. On the basis of multislice calculations, a model is proposed to quantify the experimental contrast, showing that the Ge concentration in the thin film reaches about 4% at the interface and decreases monotonically on a typical length scale of 10 nm. Diffusion occurring during the growth process itself therefore appears as a major factor limiting the abruptness of interfaces in the Si-Ge system.

Ultra-smooth epitaxial Ge grown on Si(001) utilizing a thin C-doped Ge buffer layer

KAUST Repository

Mantey, J.

2013-01-01

Here, we present work on epitaxial Ge films grown on a thin buffer layer of C doped Ge (Ge:C). The growth rate of Ge:C is found to slow over time and is thus unsuitable for thick (>20 nm) layers. We demonstrate Ge films from 10 nm to >150 nm are possible by growing pure Ge on a thin Ge:C buffer. It is shown that this stack yields exceedingly low roughness levels (comparable to bulk Si wafers) and contains fewer defects and higher Hall mobility compared to traditional heteroepitaxial Ge. The addition of C at the interface helps reduce strain by its smaller atomic radius and its ability to pin defects within the thin buffer layer that do not thread to the top Ge layer. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Ge/Si core/multi shell heterostructure FETs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Picraux, Samuel T [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Dayeh, Shadi A [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2010-01-01

Concentric heterostructured materials provide numerous design opportunities for engineering strain and interfaces, as well as tailoring energy band-edge combinations for optimal device performance. Key to the realization of such novel device concepts is the complete understanding and full control over their growth, crystal structure, and hetero-epitaxy. We report here on a new route for synthesizing Ge/Si core/multi-shell heterostructure nanowires that eliminate Au seed diffusion on the nanowire sidewalls by engineering the interface energy density difference. We show that such control over core/shell synthesis enable experimental realization of heterostructure FET devices beyond those available in the literature with enhanced transport characteristics. We provide a side-by-side comparison on the transport properties of Ge/Si core/multi-shell nanowires grown with and without Au diffusion and demonstrate heterostructure FETs with drive currents that are {approx} 2X higher than record results for p-type FETs.

Site preference of metal atoms in Gd_5_-_xM_xTt_4 (M = Zr, Hf; Tt = Si, Ge)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yao, Jinlei; Mozharivskyj, Yurij

2011-01-01

Zirconium and hafnium were incorporated into the Gd_5Ge_4 and Gd_5Si_4 parent compounds in order to study the metal-site occupation in the M_5X_4 magnetocaloric phases (M = metals; X = p elements) family. The Gd_5_-_xZr_xGe_4 phases adopt the orthorhombic Sm_5Ge_4-type (space group Pnma) structure for x ≤ 1.49 and the tetragonal Zr_5Si_4-type (P4_12_12) structure for x ≥ 1.77. The Gd_5_-_xHf_xSi_4 compounds crystallize in the orthorhombic Gd_5Si_4-type (Pnma) structure for x ≤ 0.41 and the Zr_5Si_4-type structure for x ≥ 0.7. In both systems, single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the Zr/Hf atoms preferentially occupy the slab-surface M2 and slab-center M3 sites, both of which have a significantly larger Zr/Hf population than the slab-surface M1 site. The metal-site preference, i.e. the coloring problem on the three metal sites, is discussed considering geometric and electronic effects of the local coordination environments. The analysis of the metal-site occupation in Gd_5_-_xZr_xGe_4 and Gd_5_-_xHf_xSi_4 as well as other metal-substituted M_5X_4 systems suggests that both geometric and electronic effects can be used to explain the metal-site occupation. (Copyright copyright 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Low-temperature magnetotransport in Si/SiGe heterostructures on 300 mm Si wafers

Science.gov (United States)

Scappucci, Giordano; Yeoh, L.; Sabbagh, D.; Sammak, A.; Boter, J.; Droulers, G.; Kalhor, N.; Brousse, D.; Veldhorst, M.; Vandersypen, L. M. K.; Thomas, N.; Roberts, J.; Pillarisetty, R.; Amin, P.; George, H. C.; Singh, K. J.; Clarke, J. S.

Undoped Si/SiGe heterostructures are a promising material stack for the development of spin qubits in silicon. To deploy a qubit into high volume manufacturing in a quantum computer requires stringent control over substrate uniformity and quality. Electron mobility and valley splitting are two key electrical metrics of substrate quality relevant for qubits. Here we present low-temperature magnetotransport measurements of strained Si quantum wells with mobilities in excess of 100000 cm2/Vs fabricated on 300 mm wafers within the framework of advanced semiconductor manufacturing. These results are benchmarked against the results obtained in Si quantum wells deposited on 100 mm Si wafers in an academic research environment. To ensure rapid progress in quantum wells quality we have implemented fast feedback loops from materials growth, to heterostructure FET fabrication, and low temperature characterisation. On this topic we will present recent progress in developing a cryogenic platform for high-throughput magnetotransport measurements.

Photoluminescence of phosphorus atomic layer doped Ge grown on Si

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Yuji; Nien, Li-Wei; Capellini, Giovanni; Virgilio, Michele; Costina, Ioan; Schubert, Markus Andreas; Seifert, Winfried; Srinivasan, Ashwyn; Loo, Roger; Scappucci, Giordano; Sabbagh, Diego; Hesse, Anne; Murota, Junichi; Schroeder, Thomas; Tillack, Bernd

2017-10-01

Improvement of the photoluminescence (PL) of Phosphorus (P) doped Ge by P atomic layer doping (ALD) is investigated. Fifty P delta layers of 8 × 1013 cm-2 separated by 4 nm Ge spacer are selectively deposited at 300 °C on a 700 nm thick P-doped Ge buffer layer of 1.4 × 1019 cm-3 on SiO2 structured Si (100) substrate. A high P concentration region of 1.6 × 1020 cm-3 with abrupt P delta profiles is formed by the P-ALD process. Compared to the P-doped Ge buffer layer, a reduced PL intensity is observed, which might be caused by a higher density of point defects in the P delta doped Ge layer. The peak position is shifted by ˜0.1 eV towards lower energy, indicating an increased active carrier concentration in the P-delta doped Ge layer. By introducing annealing at 400 °C to 500 °C after each Ge spacer deposition, P desorption and diffusion is observed resulting in relatively uniform P profiles of ˜2 × 1019 cm-3. Increased PL intensity and red shift of the PL peak are observed due to improved crystallinity and higher active P concentration.

The Relationship between Nanocluster Precipitation and Thermal Conductivity in Si/Ge Amorphous Multilayer Films: Effects of Cu Addition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Ehsan Mohd Tamidi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We have used a molecular dynamics technique to simulate the relationship between nanocluster precipitation and thermal conductivity in Si/Ge amorphous multilayer films, with and without Cu addition. In the study, the Green-Kubo equation was used to calculate thermal conductivity in these materials. Five specimens were prepared: Si/Ge layers, Si/(Ge + Cu layers, (Si + Cu/(Ge + Cu layers, Si/Cu/Ge/Cu layers, and Si/Cu/Ge layers. The number of precipitated nanoclusters in these specimens, which is defined as the number of four-coordinate atoms, was counted along the lateral direction of the specimens. The observed results of precipitate formation were considered in relation to the thermal conductivity results. Enhancement of precipitation of nanoclusters by Cu addition, that is, densification of four-coordinate atoms, can prevent the increment of thermal conductivity. Cu dopant increases the thermal conductivity of these materials. Combining these two points, we concluded that Si/Cu/Ge is the best structure to improve the conversion efficiency of the Si/Ge amorphous multilayer films.

Electronic structure of LaFe{sub 2}X{sub 2} (X = Si,Ge)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hase, I., E-mail: i.hase@aist.go.jp [Electronics and Photonics Research Institute, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan); Yanagisawa, T. [Electronics and Photonics Research Institute, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8568 (Japan)

2011-11-15

We have calculated the electronic structure of LaFe{sub 2}Si{sub 2} and LaFe{sub 2}Ge{sub 2} from first-principles. The obtained Fermi surfaces of LaFe{sub 2}Si{sub 2} and LaFe{sub 2}Ge{sub 2} resemble those of LaRu{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}, which well explains the result of the dHvA experiments of CeRu{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}. Their density of states curves show the common feature with CaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}. D(E{sub F}) strongly depends on the distortion of the FeX{sub 4} tetrahedra and/or the height of the X atom, as also found in iron-pnictide system. Recently found iron-pnictide superconductor (Ba,K)Fe{sub 2}As{sub 2} and the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCu{sub 2}Si{sub 2} both have the same crystal structure. In this paper we have calculated the electronic structure of LaFe{sub 2}Si{sub 2} and LaFe{sub 2}Ge{sub 2} from first-principles. These compounds also have the same crystal structure and closely related to both of (Ba,K)Fe{sub 2}As{sub 2} and CeRu{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}. The obtained Fermi surfaces of LaFe{sub 2}Si{sub 2} and LaFe{sub 2}Ge{sub 2} resemble those of LaRu{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}, which are already found that they well explain the results of the dHvA experiments of CeRu{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}. Their density of states curves show the common feature with CaFe{sub 2}As{sub 2}. The density of states at the Fermi level strongly depends on the distortion of the FeX{sub 4} tetrahedra and/or the height of the X atom from the two-dimensional Fe plane, as also found in iron-pnictide system. The electronic specific heat coefficient is 11.8 mJ/mol K{sup 2} for LaFe{sub 2}Si{sub 2} and 12.5 mJ/mol K{sup 2} for LaFe{sub 2}Ge{sub 2}, which is about 1/3 and 1/2 of experimental results, respectively.

The hidden secrets of the E-center in Si and Ge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, Arne Nylandsted; Mesli, Abdelmadjid

2007-01-01

The group- V vacancy pair, the so-called E-center, has recently been demonstrated to have, both in Si and Ge, more complicated energy-level schemes in the energy gap than were previously assumed. The E-center in silicon has, in addition to its well-established single-acceptor level in the upper half of the band gap, also a donor level in the lower half of the band gap; this donor level has lain hidden for more than 40 years. The E-center in Ge has an even more complicated level scheme as it induces, in addition to two levels analogous to those found in Si, also a double-acceptor level in the upper half of the band gap. Thus the E-center in Si can exist in three charge states and the E-center in Ge in four

Characterization of Si sub 1 sub - sub x Ge sub x thin films prepared by sputtering

CERN Document Server

Noguchi, T

2000-01-01

By bombarding solid targets, we deposited Si sub 1 sub - sub x Ge sub x thin films by sputtering without using inflammable CVD (chemical vapor deposition) gases. After the B sup + -implanted Si sub 1 sub - sub x Ge sub x films were thermally annealed, they were characterized. As the content of Ge increased, the refractive index increased and the band edge narrowed. The higher the annealing temperature, the lower the resistivity. For Si sub 1 sub - sub x Ge sub x films with a high Ge content (X approx 0.5), the flat-band voltage of the gate deduced from C-V curve was adjusted to the middle point between p sup + and n sup + polySi gates. Boron-doped SiGe films are promising gate materials for MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) and SOI (silicon on insulator) transistors driven at low driving voltage.

Design of High Performance Si/SiGe Heterojunction Tunneling FETs with a T-Shaped Gate

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Liu, Hongxia; Wang, Shulong; Chen, Shupeng; Yang, Zhaonian

2017-03-01

In this paper, a new Si/SiGe heterojunction tunneling field-effect transistor with a T-shaped gate (HTG-TFET) is proposed and investigated by Silvaco-Atlas simulation. The two source regions of the HTG-TFET are placed on both sides of the gate to increase the tunneling area. The T-shaped gate is designed to overlap with N+ pockets in both the lateral and vertical directions, which increases the electric field and tunneling rate at the top of tunneling junctions. Moreover, using SiGe in the pocket regions leads to the smaller tunneling distance. Therefore, the proposed HTG-TFET can obtain the higher on-state current. The simulation results show that on-state current of HTG-TFET is increased by one order of magnitude compared with that of the silicon-based counterparts. The average subthreshold swing (SS) of HTG-TFET is 44.64 mV/dec when V g is varied from 0.1 to 0.4 V, and the point SS is 36.59 mV/dec at V g = 0.2 V. Besides, this design cannot bring the sever Miller capacitance for the TFET circuit design. By using the T-shaped gate and SiGe pocket regions, the overall performance of the TFET is optimized.

Design of High Performance Si/SiGe Heterojunction Tunneling FETs with a T-Shaped Gate.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Liu, Hongxia; Wang, Shulong; Chen, Shupeng; Yang, Zhaonian

2017-12-01

In this paper, a new Si/SiGe heterojunction tunneling field-effect transistor with a T-shaped gate (HTG-TFET) is proposed and investigated by Silvaco-Atlas simulation. The two source regions of the HTG-TFET are placed on both sides of the gate to increase the tunneling area. The T-shaped gate is designed to overlap with N + pockets in both the lateral and vertical directions, which increases the electric field and tunneling rate at the top of tunneling junctions. Moreover, using SiGe in the pocket regions leads to the smaller tunneling distance. Therefore, the proposed HTG-TFET can obtain the higher on-state current. The simulation results show that on-state current of HTG-TFET is increased by one order of magnitude compared with that of the silicon-based counterparts. The average subthreshold swing (SS) of HTG-TFET is 44.64 mV/dec when V g is varied from 0.1 to 0.4 V, and the point SS is 36.59 mV/dec at V g  = 0.2 V. Besides, this design cannot bring the sever Miller capacitance for the TFET circuit design. By using the T-shaped gate and SiGe pocket regions, the overall performance of the TFET is optimized.

Towards III-V solar cells on Si: Improvement in the crystalline quality of Ge-on-Si virtual substrates through low porosity porous silicon buffer layer and annealing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calabrese, Gabriele; Baricordi, Stefano; Bernardoni, Paolo; Fin, Samuele; Guidi, Vincenzo; Vincenzi, Donato

2014-01-01

A comparison between the crystalline quality of Ge grown on bulk Si and on a low porosity porous Si (pSi) buffer layer using low energy plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported. Omega/2Theta coupled scans around the Ge and Si (004) diffraction peaks show a reduction of the Ge full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 22.4% in presence of the pSi buffer layer, indicating it is effective in improving the epilayer crystalline quality. At the same time atomic force microscopy analysis shows an increase in root means square roughness for Ge grown on pSi from 38.5 nm to 48.0 nm, as a consequence of the larger surface roughness of pSi compared to bulk Si. The effect of 20 minutes vacuum annealing at 580°C is also investigated. The annealing leads to a FWHM reduction of 23% for Ge grown on Si and of 36.5% for Ge on pSi, resulting in a FWHM of 101 arcsec in the latter case. At the same time, the RMS roughness is reduced of 8.8% and of 46.5% for Ge grown on bulk Si and on pSi, respectively. The biggest improvement in the crystalline quality of Ge grown on pSi with respect to Ge grown on bulk Si observed after annealing is a consequence of the simultaneous reorganization of the Ge epilayer and the buffer layer driven by energy minimization. A low porosity buffer layer can thus be used for the growth of low defect density Ge on Si virtual substrates for the successive integration of III-V multijunction solar cells on Si. The suggested approach is simple and fast –thus allowing for high throughput-, moreover is cost effective and fully compatible with subsequent wafer processing. Finally it does not introduce new chemicals in the solar cell fabrication process and can be scaled to large area silicon wafers

Ge-rich islands grown on patterned Si substrates by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bollani, M; Fedorov, A; Chrastina, D; Sordan, R; Picco, A; Bonera, E

2010-01-01

Si 1-x Ge x islands grown on Si patterned substrates have received considerable attention during the last decade for potential applications in microelectronics and optoelectronics. In this work we propose a new methodology to grow Ge-rich islands using a chemical vapour deposition technique. Electron-beam lithography is used to pre-pattern Si substrates, creating material traps. Epitaxial deposition of thin Ge films by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition then leads to the formation of Ge-rich Si 1-x Ge x islands (x > 0.8) with a homogeneous size distribution, precisely positioned with respect to the substrate pattern. The island morphology was characterized by atomic force microscopy, and the Ge content and strain in the islands was studied by μRaman spectroscopy. This characterization indicates a uniform distribution of islands with high Ge content and low strain: this suggests that the relatively high growth rate (0.1 nm s -1 ) and low temperature (650 deg. C) used is able to limit Si intermixing, while maintaining a long enough adatom diffusion length to prevent nucleation of islands outside pits. This offers the novel possibility of using these Ge-rich islands to induce strain in a Si cap.

Ge-rich islands grown on patterned Si substrates by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Bollani, M; Chrastina, D; Fedorov, A; Sordan, R; Picco, A; Bonera, E

2010-11-26

Si(1-x)Ge(x) islands grown on Si patterned substrates have received considerable attention during the last decade for potential applications in microelectronics and optoelectronics. In this work we propose a new methodology to grow Ge-rich islands using a chemical vapour deposition technique. Electron-beam lithography is used to pre-pattern Si substrates, creating material traps. Epitaxial deposition of thin Ge films by low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition then leads to the formation of Ge-rich Si(1-x)Ge(x) islands (x > 0.8) with a homogeneous size distribution, precisely positioned with respect to the substrate pattern. The island morphology was characterized by atomic force microscopy, and the Ge content and strain in the islands was studied by μRaman spectroscopy. This characterization indicates a uniform distribution of islands with high Ge content and low strain: this suggests that the relatively high growth rate (0.1 nm s(-1)) and low temperature (650 °C) used is able to limit Si intermixing, while maintaining a long enough adatom diffusion length to prevent nucleation of islands outside pits. This offers the novel possibility of using these Ge-rich islands to induce strain in a Si cap.

Step-driven surface segregation and ordering during Si-Ge MBE growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jesson, D.E.; Pennycook, S.J.; Baribeau, J.M.; Houghton, D.C.

1992-06-01

An important role of type S B step edges in determining the as-grown microstructure of Si-Ge superlattices and alloys is implicated from direct Z-contrast images of as-grown structures. A variety of different ordered phase variants can arise at each Si on Ge interface as a result of vertical segregation during superlattice growth. A new monoclinic-ordered structure is predicted to arise as a result of lateral segregation during alloy growth

A self-ordered, body-centered tetragonal superlattice of SiGe nanodot growth by reduced pressure CVD

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Yuji; Zaumseil, Peter; Capellini, Giovanni; Schubert, Markus Andreas; Hesse, Anne; Albani, Marco; Bergamaschini, Roberto; Montalenti, Francesco; Schroeder, Thomas; Tillack, Bernd

2017-12-01

Self-ordered three-dimensional body-centered tetragonal (BCT) SiGe nanodot structures are fabricated by depositing SiGe/Si superlattice layer stacks using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition. For high enough Ge content in the island (>30%) and deposition temperature of the Si spacer layers (T > 700 °C), we observe the formation of an ordered array with islands arranged in staggered position in adjacent layers. The in plane periodicity of the islands can be selected by a suitable choice of the annealing temperature before the Si spacer layer growth and of the SiGe dot volume, while only a weak influence of the Ge concentration is observed. Phase-field simulations are used to clarify the driving force determining the observed BCT ordering, shedding light on the competition between heteroepitaxial strain and surface-energy minimization in the presence of a non-negligible surface roughness.

Large-area selective CVD epitaxial growth of Ge on Si substrates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sammak, A.; De Boer, W.; Nanver, L.K.

2011-01-01

Selective epitaxial growth of crystalline Ge on Si in a standard ASM Epsilon 2000 CVD reactor is investigated for the fabrication of Ge p+n diodes. At the deposition temperature of 700?C, most of the lattice mismatch-defects are trapped within first 300nm of Ge growth and good quality single crystal

Single photon detection in a waveguide-coupled Ge-on-Si lateral avalanche photodiode.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Nicholas J D; Gehl, Michael; Derose, Christopher T; Starbuck, Andrew L; Pomerene, Andrew T; Lentine, Anthony L; Trotter, Douglas C; Davids, Paul S

2017-07-10

We examine gated-Geiger mode operation of an integrated waveguide-coupled Ge-on-Si lateral avalanche photodiode (APD) and demonstrate single photon detection at low dark count for this mode of operation. Our integrated waveguide-coupled APD is fabricated using a selective epitaxial Ge-on-Si growth process resulting in a separate absorption and charge multiplication (SACM) design compatible with our silicon photonics platform. Single photon detection efficiency and dark count rate is measured as a function of temperature in order to understand and optimize performance characteristics in this device. We report single photon detection of 5.27% at 1310 nm and a dark count rate of 534 kHz at 80 K for a Ge-on-Si single photon avalanche diode. Dark count rate is the lowest for a Ge-on-Si single photon detector in this range of temperatures while maintaining competitive detection efficiency. A jitter of 105 ps was measured for this device.

Ge incorporation inside 4H-SiC during Homoepitaxial growth by chemical vapor deposition

OpenAIRE

Alassaad, Kassem; Soulière, Véronique; Cauwet, François; Peyre, Hervé; Carole, Davy; Kwasnicki, Pawel; Juillaguet, Sandrine; Kups, Thomas; Pezoldt, Jörg; Ferro, Gabriel

2014-01-01

8 pages; International audience; In this work, we report on the addition of GeH4 gas during homoepitaxial growth of 4H-SiC by chemical vapour deposition. Ge introduction does not affect dramatically the surface morphology and defect density though it is accompanied with Ge droplets accumulation at the surface. The Ge incorporation level inside the 4H-SiC matrix, ranging from few 1017 to few 1018 at.cm-3, was found to be mainly affected by the growth temperature and GeH4 flux. Other growth par...

GeAs and SiAs monolayers: Novel 2D semiconductors with suitable band structures

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Liqin; Guo, Yu; Zhao, Jijun

2018-01-01

Two dimensional (2D) materials provide a versatile platform for nanoelectronics, optoelectronics and clean energy conversion. Based on first-principles calculations, we propose a novel kind of 2D materials - GeAs and SiAs monolayers and investigate their atomic structure, thermodynamic stability, and electronic properties. The calculations show that monolayer GeAs and SiAs sheets are energetically and dynamically stable. Their small interlayer cohesion energies (0.191 eV/atom for GeAs and 0.178 eV/atom for SiAs) suggest easy exfoliation from the bulk solids that exist in nature. As 2D semiconductors, GeAs and SiAs monolayers possess band gap of 2.06 eV and 2.50 eV from HSE06 calculations, respectively, while their band gap can be further engineered by the number of layers. The relatively small and anisotropic carrier effective masses imply fast electric transport in these 2D semiconductors. In particular, monolayer SiAs is a direct gap semiconductor and a potential photocatalyst for water splitting. These theoretical results shine light on utilization of monolayer or few-layer GeAs and SiAs materials for the next-generation 2D electronics and optoelectronics with high performance and satisfactory stability.

Induced electrostatic confinement of electron gas in W-designed strain-compensated Si/Si1-x Ge x /Si type-II quantum wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sfina, N.; Lazzari, J.-L.; Christol, P.; Cuminal, Y.; Said, M.

2006-01-01

We present a numerical modeling of the conduction- and the valence-band diagrams of W designed Si/Si 0.4 Ge 0.6 /Si type II quantum wells. These W structures, strain-compensated on relaxed Si 0.75 Ge 0.25 pseudo-substrates, are potentially interesting for emission and photo-detection around a 1.55μm wavelength. Two main features have been extrapolated by solving self-consistently Schroedinger and Poisson equations, taking into account the electrostatic attraction induced by carrier injection: (i) Coulomb attraction strongly modifies the band profiles and increases the electron probability density at the quantum well interfaces. (ii) The injected carrier concentration enhances the in-plane oscillator strength and the electron-hole wave-function overlap

MAX phase – Alumina composites via elemental and exchange reactions in the Ti{sub n+1}AC{sub n} systems (A=Al, Si, Ga, Ge, In and Sn)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuskelly, Dylan, E-mail: dylan.cuskelly@uon.edu.au; Richards, Erin; Kisi, Erich, E-mail: Erich.Kisi@newcastle.edu.au

2016-05-15

Extension of the aluminothermal exchange reaction synthesis of M{sub n+1}AX{sub n} phases to systems where the element ‘A’ is not the reducing agent was investigated in systems TiO{sub 2}–A–Al–C for A=Al, Si, Ga, Ge, In and Sn as well as Cr{sub 2}O{sub 3}–Ga–Al–C. MAX phase-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} composites were made in all systems except those with A=Ga or In. The effectiveness of conversion to MAX phases was generally in the range 63–96% without optimisation of starting ratios. Optimisation in the Ti–Si–C system gave a MAX phase component with >98% Ti{sub 3}SiC{sub 2}. - Graphical abstract: A range of Ti{sub n+1}AX{sub n} phases with different A elements were synthesised directly from the M oxide via exchange reactions. The process has now been shown to be general in all the systems marked in green in the table. - Highlights: • Ti{sub n+1}AC{sub n} phases were produced via a single step exchange reaction. • 3 MAX phase systems were successful via this method for the first time. • Cr{sub 2}GeC was also able to be produced via an exchange reaction. • The interconversion reaction in MAX phases is more general than previously thought.

Gas cluster ion beam assisted NiPt germano-silicide formation on SiGe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozcan, Ahmet S., E-mail: asozcan@us.ibm.com [IBM Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, California 95120 (United States); Lavoie, Christian; Jordan-Sweet, Jean [IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598 (United States); Alptekin, Emre; Zhu, Frank [IBM Semiconductor Research and Development Center, 2070 Route 52, Hopewell Junction, New York 12533 (United States); Leith, Allen; Pfeifer, Brian D.; LaRose, J. D.; Russell, N. M. [TEL Epion Inc., 900 Middlesex Turnpike, Bldg. 6, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821 (United States)

2016-04-21

We report the formation of very uniform and smooth Ni(Pt)Si on epitaxially grown SiGe using Si gas cluster ion beam treatment after metal-rich silicide formation. The gas cluster ion implantation process was optimized to infuse Si into the metal-rich silicide layer and lowered the NiSi nucleation temperature significantly according to in situ X-ray diffraction measurements. This novel method which leads to more uniform films can also be used to control silicide depth in ultra-shallow junctions, especially for high Ge containing devices, where silicidation is problematic as it leads to much rougher interfaces.

Premonochromator characteristics of Si and Ge crystals for nuclear Bragg scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harami, Taikan

1990-07-01

The use of monochromator plays an important role as monochromatizing the photon from a facility having an electron storage ring to a narrow band width about the wavelength determined by the Bragg condition. This paper describes the dynamical diffraction formulae and collects the characteristics data of premonochromators of Si and Ge crystals for nuclear Bragg scattering. The numerical studies show the following data. (1) Reflectivity, Bragg reflection width, energy resolution and integral reflecting power for the various reflections of Si and Ge crystals at the photon with the resonance excitation energy of the Moessbauer nuclei of 181 Tm(6.21 keV), 169 Tm(8.42 keV), 57 Fe(14.41 keV), 119 Sn(23.87 keV) and 238 U(44.70 keV). (2) Tables of susceptibilities and figures of rocking curves for the various reflections of Si and Ge crystals. (author)

Numerical simulation of microstructure of the GeSi alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasin, I.

2006-09-08

The goal of this work is to investigate pattern formation processes on the solid-liquid interface during the crystal growth of GeSi. GeSi crystals with cellular structure have great potential for applications in -ray and neutron optics. The interface patterns induce small quasi-periodic distortions of the microstructure called mosaicity. Existence and properties of this mosaicity are important for the application of the crystals. The properties depend on many factors; this dependence, is currently not known even not qualitatively. A better understanding of the physics near the crystal surface is therefore required, in order to optimise the growth process. There are three main physical processes in this system: phase-transition, diffusion and melt flow. Every process is described by its own set of equations. Finite difference methods and lattice kinetic methods are taken for solving these governing equations. We have developed a modification of the kinetic methods for the advectiondiffusion and extended this method for simulations of non-linear reaction diffusion equations. The phase-field method was chosen as a tool for describing the phase-transition. There are numerous works applied for different metallic alloys. An attempt to apply the method directly to simulation GeSi crystal growth showed that this method is unstable. This instability has not been observed in previous works due to the much smaller scale of simulations. We introduced a modified phase-field scheme, which enables to simulate pattern formation with the scale observed in experiment. A flow in the melt was taken in to account in the numerical model. The developed numerical model allows us to investigate pattern formation in GeSi crystals. Modelling shows that the flow near the crystal surface has impact on the patterns. The obtained patterns reproduce qualitatively and in some cases quantitatively the experimental results. (orig.)

Effects of germane flow rate in electrical properties of a-SiGe:H films for ambipolar thin-film transistors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dominguez, Miguel, E-mail: madominguezj@gmail.com [Centro de Investigaciones en Dispositivos Semiconductores, Instituto de Ciencias, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla 72570 (Mexico); Rosales, Pedro, E-mail: prosales@inaoep.mx [National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Electronics Department, Luis Enrique Erro No. 1, Puebla 72840 (Mexico); Torres, Alfonso [National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Electronics Department, Luis Enrique Erro No. 1, Puebla 72840 (Mexico); Flores, Francisco [Centro de Investigaciones en Dispositivos Semiconductores, Instituto de Ciencias, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla 72570 (Mexico); Molina, Joel; Moreno, Mario [National Institute for Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Electronics Department, Luis Enrique Erro No. 1, Puebla 72840 (Mexico); Luna, Jose [Centro de Investigaciones en Dispositivos Semiconductores, Instituto de Ciencias, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla 72570 (Mexico); Orduña, Abdu [Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Aplicada (CIBA), IPN, Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala 72197 (Mexico)

2014-07-01

In this work, the study of germane flow rate in electrical properties of a-SiGe:H films is presented. The a-SiGe:H films deposited by low frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at 300 °C were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, measurements of temperature dependence of conductivity and UV–visible spectroscopic ellipsometry. After finding the optimum germane flow rate conditions, a-SiGe:H films were deposited at 200 °C and analyzed. The use of a-SiGe:H films at 200 °C as active layer of low-temperature ambipolar thin-film transistors (TFTs) was demonstrated. The inverted staggered a-SiGe:H TFTs with Spin-On Glass as gate insulator were fabricated. These results suggest that there is an optimal Ge content in the a-SiGe:H films that improves its electrical properties. - Highlights: • As the GeH{sub 4} flow rate increases the content of oxygen decreases. • Ge-H bonds show the highest value in a-SiGe:H films with GeH{sub 4} flow of 105 sccm. • Films with GeH{sub 4} flow of 105 sccm show the highest activation energy. • An optimum incorporation of germanium is obtained with GeH{sub 4} flow rate of 105 sccm. • At 200 °C the optimum condition of the a-SiGe:H films remain with no changes.

A new CMOS SiGeC avalanche photo-diode pixel for IR sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Augusto, Carlos; Forester, Lynn; Diniz, Pedro C.

2009-05-01

Near-infra-red sensing with silicon is limited by the bandgap of silicon, corresponding to a maximum wavelength of absorption of 1.1 μm. A new type of CMOS sensor is presented, which uses a SiGeC epitaxial film in conjunction with novel device architecture to extend absorption into the infra-red. The SiGeC film composition and thickness determine the spectrum of absorption; in particular for SiGeC superlattices, the layer ordering to create pseudo direct bandgaps is the critical parameter. In this new device architecture, the p-type SiGeC film is grown on an active region surrounded by STI, linked to the S/D region of an adjacent NMOS, under the STI by a floating N-Well. On a n-type active, a P-I-N device is formed, and on a p-type active, a P-I-P device is formed, each sensing different regions of the spectrum. The SiGeC films can be biased for avalanche operation, as the required vertical electric field is confined to the region near the heterojunction interface, thereby not affecting the gate oxide of the adjacent NMOS. With suitable heterojunction and doping profiles, the avalanche region can also be bandgap engineered, allowing for avalanche breakdown voltages that are compatible with CMOS devices.

Measurement of strain and strain relaxation in free-standing Si membranes by convergent beam electron diffraction and finite element method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, H.; Ikeda, K.; Hata, S.; Nakashima, H.; Wang, D.; Nakashima, H.

2011-01-01

Bridge-shaped free-standing Si membranes (FSSM), strained by low-pressure (LP) Si x N y , plasma-enhanced (PE) Si x N y and Si x Ge 1-x stressors, were measured by convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and the finite element method (FEM). The results of CBED show that, while the strain along the length of the FSSM is compressive in an LPSi x N y /Si sample, those along the length of the FSSM are tensile in PESi x N y /Si and Si x Ge 1-x /Si samples. The average absolute values of strains are different in FSSM with LPSi x N y , PESi x N y and Si x Ge 1-x as stressors. The FEM was used to compensate the results of CBED taking into account the strain relaxation in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation. The FEM results give the strain properties in three dimensions, and are in good agreement with the results of CBED. There is approximately no strain relaxation along the length of FSSM, and the elastic strains along the other two axes in FSSM are partially relaxed by thinning down for the preparation of TEM samples.

Waveguide-integrated vertical pin photodiodes of Ge fabricated on p+ and n+ Si-on-insulator layers

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Kazuki; Hiraki, Tatsurou; Tsuchizawa, Tai; Ishikawa, Yasuhiko

2017-04-01

Vertical pin structures of Ge photodiodes (PDs) integrated with Si optical waveguides are fabricated by depositing Ge epitaxial layers on Si-on-insulator (SOI) layers, and the performances of n+-Ge/i-Ge/p+-SOI PDs are compared with those of p+-Ge/i-Ge/n+-SOI PDs. Both types of PDs show responsivities as high as 1.0 A/W at 1.55 µm, while the dark leakage current is different, which is consistent with previous reports on free-space PDs formed on bulk Si wafers. The dark current of the p+-Ge/i-Ge/n+-SOI PDs is higher by more than one order of magnitude. Taking into account the activation energies for dark current as well as the dependence on PD area, the dark current of the n+-Ge/i-Ge/p+-SOI PDs is dominated by the thermal generation of carriers via mid-gap defect levels in Ge, while for the p+-Ge/i-Ge/n+-SOI PDs, the dark current is ascribed to not only thermal generation but also other mechanisms such as locally formed conduction paths.

Surface roughening of undoped and in situ B-doped SiGe epitaxial layers deposited by using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Youngmo; Park, Jiwoo; Sohn, Hyunchul

2018-01-01

Si1- x Ge x (:B) epitaxial layers were deposited by using reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition with SiH4, GeH4, and B2H6 source gases, and the dependences of the surface roughness of undoped Si1- x Ge x on the GeH4 flow rate and of Si1- x Ge x :B on the B2H6 flow rate were investigated. The root-mean-square (RMS) roughness value of the undoped Si1- x Ge x at constant thickness increased gradually with increasing Ge composition, resulting from an increase in the amplitude of the wavy surface before defect formation. At higher Ge compositions, the residual strain in Si1- x Ge x significantly decreased through the formation of defects along with an abrupt increase in the RMS roughness. The variation of the surface roughness of Si1- x Ge x :B depended on the boron (B) concentration. At low B concentrations, the RMS roughness of Si1- x Ge x remained constant regardless of Ge composition, which is similar to that of undoped Si1- x Ge x . However, at high B concentrations, the RMS roughness of Si1- x Ge x :B increased greatly due to B islanding. In addition, at very high B concentrations ( 9.9 at%), the RMS roughness of Si1- x Ge x :B decreased due to non-epitaxial growth.

Magnetotransport, structural and optical characterization of p-type modulation doped heterostructures with high Ge content Si1-xGex channel grown by SS-MBE on Si1-yGey/Si(001) virtual substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myronov, M.

2001-04-01

This thesis is a report on experimental investigations of magnetotransport, structural and optical properties of p-type modulation doped (MOD) heterostructures with Si 1-x Ge x channel of high Ge content (0.6 1-y Ge y /Si(001) virtual substrate (VS). The active layers of MOD heterostructures were grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SS-MBE). The VSs were grown either by SS-MBE or low-pressure chemical vapour deposition (LP-CVD). The influence of thermal annealing on magnetotransport, structural and optical properties of Si 1-x Ge x /Si 1-y Ge y heterostructures was studied by performing the post growth furnace thermal annealing (FTA) treatments in the temperature range of 600-900C for 30min and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatments at temperature 750C for 30sec. Structural and optical analysis of p-type MOD Si 1-x Ge x /Si 1-y Ge y heterostructures involved the techniques of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, ultra low energy secondary ion mass spectrometry, photoluminescence spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy and scanning white-light interferometry. From the combinations of experimental results obtained by these techniques the Ge composition in the SiGe heteroepilayers, their thicknesses, state of strain in the heteroepilayers and dislocations microstructure in VSs were obtained. After post growth thermal annealing treatments were observed broadening of the Si 1-x Ge x channel accompanied with the reduction of Ge content in the channel and smearing of Si 1-x Ge x /Si 1-y Ge y interfaces. The Si 0.7 Ge 0.3 on low-temperature Si buffer VSs with very good structural properties were designed and grown by SS-MBE. These include: relatively thin 850nm total thickness of VS, 4-6nm Peak-to-Valley values of surface roughness, less than 10 5 cm -2 threading dislocations density and more than 95% degree of relaxation in the top layers of VS. The Hall mobility and sheet carrier density of as-grown and annealed p-type MOD Si 1-x Ge x /Si 1-y Ge y

Atomistic simulation of the thermal conductivity in amorphous SiO2 matrix/Ge nanocrystal composites

Science.gov (United States)

Kuryliuk, Vasyl V.; Korotchenkov, Oleg A.

2017-04-01

We use nonequilibrium molecular dynamics computer simulations with the Tersoff potential aiming to provide a comprehensive picture of the thermal conductivity of amorphous SiO2 (a-SiO2) matrix with embedded Ge nanocrystals (nc-Ge). The modelling predicts the a-SiO2 matrix thermal conductivity in a temperature range of 50 fair agreement with experiment at around room temperature. It is worth noticing that the predicted room-temperature thermal conductivity in a-SiO2 is in very good agreement with the experimental result, which is in marked contrast with the thermal conductivity calculated employing the widely used van Beest-Kramer-van Santen (BKS) potential. We show that the thermal conductivity of composite nc-Ge/a-SiO2 systems decreases steadily with increasing the volume fraction of Ge inclusions, indicative of enhanced interface scattering of phonons imposed by embedded Ge nanocrystals. We also observe that increasing the volume fractions above a certain threshold value results in a progressively increased thermal conductivity of the nanocomposite, which can be explained by increasing volume fraction of a better thermally conducting Ge. Finally, non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations with the Tersoff potential are promising for computing the thermal conductivity of nanocomposites based on amorphous SiO2 and can be readily scaled to more complex composite structures with embedded nanoparticles, which thus help design nanocomposites with desired thermal properties.

Regrowth of Si and Ge under laser irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bertolotti, M.; Vitali, G.

1979-01-01

The effects of pulsed laser irradiation on amorphous layers of Si and Ge obtained via ion implantation are considered. Amorphous-polycrystalline, amorphous-single crystal and polycrystalline-single crystal transitions have been obtained. Residual disorder and mechanical damage are considered. (author)

Magnetic ordering in the monoclinic structure of Nd5Si1.45Ge2.55 and Pr5Si1.5Ge2.5 studied by means of neutron powder diffraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Magen, C; Ritter, C; Morellon, L; Algarabel, P A; Ibarra, M R

2004-01-01

The compounds Nd 5 Si 1.45 Ge 2.55 and Pr 5 Si 1.5 Ge 2.5 have been investigated by means of magnetization measurements and neutron powder diffraction techniques. These alloys present a room-temperature monoclinic Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 -type crystallographic structure and, on cooling, both systems order ferromagnetically, at T C = 56 and 32 K, respectively, from a high-temperature paramagnetic to a low-temperature complex canted ferromagnetic state. The monoclinic crystallographic structure remains unchanged upon cooling down to 4 K, demonstrating the existence of a monoclinic ferromagnetic phase, and the possibility of a full decoupling of magnetic and crystallographic degrees of freedom in the 5:4 lanthanide intermetallic compounds

Surface and interfacial structural characterization of MBE grown Si/Ge multilayers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, Biswajit; Sharma, Manjula; Sarma, Abhisakh; Rath, Ashutosh; Satyam, P.V.; Chakraborty, Purushottam; Sanyal, Milan K.

2009-01-01

Si/Ge multilayer structures have been grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Si (1 1 1) and (1 0 0) substrates and were characterized by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), high-depth-resolution secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and cross-section high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). A reasonably good agreement has been obtained for layer thickness, interfacial structure and diffusion between SIMS and HRTEM measurements. Epitaxial growth and crystalline nature of the individual layer have been probed using cross-sectional HRTEM and XRD measurements. Surface and interface morphological studies by AFM and HRTEM show island-like growth of both Si and Ge nanostructures.

Half-metallicity and ferromagnetism of TcX (X=C, Si and Ge) in zinc blende structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Yong [College of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004 (China); Physics Department, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A1 (Canada); Xing, Yue [College of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066004 (China); Bose, S.K., E-mail: sbose@brocku.ca [Physics Department, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A1 (Canada); Zhao, Yong-Hong [Department of Physics, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068 (China)

2013-02-15

We report results of a first-principles density-functional study of three binary transition-metal compounds TcX (X=C, Si and Ge) in the hypothetical cubic zinc blende (ZB) structure. Our calculations are based on the full potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) plus local orbitals method, together with generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation potential. Half-metallic (HM) ferromagnetism is observed in these binary compounds for their optimized cell volumes. In the HM state, these compounds possess an integer magnetic moment (1.000{mu}{sub B}) per formula unit, which is one of the important characteristics of half-metallic ferromagnets (HMFs). The ferromagnetic (FM) state is found to be stable for ZB TcC, TcSi and TcGe against the nonmagnetic (NM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) states. Calculations show that half-metallicity can be maintained for a wide range of lattice constants in these binary compounds. Density functional calculations of exchange interactions and the Curie temperatures reveal similar trends for the three compounds with respect to the lattice parameter. These compounds are compatible with the traditional semiconductors, and could be useful in spin-electronics and other applications. The most important aspect of this work is to explore the possibility of not only magnetism, but HM ferromagnetism in compounds involving NM elements and 4d transition element Tc. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We study magnetism of the compounds TcSi, TcC, and TcGe. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These compounds, with nonmagnetic constituents, are found to be ferromagnetic. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer They show robust half-metallicity in zinc blende structure. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Estimated Curie temperatures suggest that synthesis of these compounds is worth pursuing.

Improved Si0.5Ge0.5/Si interface quality achieved by the process of low energy hydrogen plasma cleaning and investigation of interface quality with positron annihilation spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, M.-H.; Chen, C.-H.

2013-04-01

The Positron Annihilation Spectra (PAS), Raman, and Photoluminescence spectroscopy reveal that Si0.5Ge0.5/Si interface quality can be significantly improved by the low energy plasma cleaning process using hydrogen. In the PAS, the particularly small value of lifetime and intensity near the Si0.5Ge0.5/Si interface in the sample with the treatment indicate that the defect concentration is successfully reduced 2.25 times, respectively. Fewer defects existed in the Si0.5Ge0.5/Si interface result in the high compressive strain about 0.36% in the top epi-Si0.5Ge0.5 layer, which can be observed in Raman spectra and stronger radiative recombination rate about 1.39 times for the infrared emission, which can be observed in the photoluminescence spectra. With better Si0.5Ge0.5/Si interface quality, the SiGe-based devices can have better optical and electrical characteristics for more applications in the industry. The PAS is also demonstrated that it is the useful methodology tool to quantify the defect information in the SiGe-based material.