Electron-hole droplets in strained Ge and Si

The effect of the non-parabolicity of the valence band on the electron-hole droplets in Si and Ge under a large uniaxial stress is discussed. It is found that this stress-induced band feature helps to lower the ground state energy of the droplet relative to that of the free excitons.     

Thermoelectric transport in strained Si and Si/Ge heterostructures

The anisotropic thermoelectric transport properties of bulk silicon strained in the [111]-direction were studied by detailed first-principles calculations focusing on a possible enhancement of the power factor. Electron and hole doping were examined in a broad doping and temperature range. At low temperature and low doping an enhancement of the power factor was obtained for compressive and tensile strain in the electron-doped case and for compressive strain in the hole-doped case. For the thermoelectrically more important high-temperature and high-doping regime a slight enhancement of the power factor was only found under small compressive strain with the power factor overall being robust against applied strain. To extend our findings the anisotropic thermoelectric transport of a [111]-oriented Si/Ge superlattice was investigated. Here, the cross-plane power factor under hole doping was drastically suppressed due to quantum-well effects, while under electron doping an enhanced power factor was found. For this, we state figures of merit of ZT?=?0.2 and 1.4 at T?=?300?and 900?K for the electron-doped [111]-oriented Si/Ge superlattice. All results are discussed in terms of band structure features.     

Critical point for electron-hole droplets in strained Ge and Si

For Ge and Si under a high uniaxial stress, the split valence bands become non-parabolic. The effect of the non-parabolicity on the critical point of the electron-hole droplet in Ge(111) and Si(100) is investigated. The ground state properties of the droplet are also calculated.     

Thermal conductivity of symmetrically strained Si/Ge superlattices

This paper reports temperature-dependent thermal conductivity measurements in the cross-plane direction of symmetrically strained Si/Ge superlattices, and the effect of doping, period thickness and dislocations on the thermal conductivity reduction of Si/Ge superlattices. The Si/Ge superlattices are grown by molecular beam epitaxy on silicon and silicon-on-insulator substrates with a graded buffer layer. A differential 3 ω method is used to measure the thermal conductivity of the buffer and the superlattices between 80 and 300 K. The thermal conductivity measurement is carried out in conjunction with X-ray and TEM sample characterization. The measured thermal conductivity values of the superlattices are lower than those of their equivalent composition bulk alloys.     

压应变Ge/(001)Si1-xGex空穴散射与迁移率模型

应变Ge材料因其载流子迁移率高, 且与硅工艺兼容等优点, 已成为硅基CMOS研究发展的重点和热点. 本文基于压应变Ge/(001)Si_1-xGe_x价带结构模型, 研究了压应变Ge/(001)Si_1-xGe_x空穴各散射概率、空穴迁移率与Ge组分(x)的关系, 包括空穴离化杂质散射概率、声学声子散射、非极性光学声子散射、总散射概率以及空穴各向同性、各向异性迁移率, 获得了有实用价值的相关结论. 本文量化模型可为应力致Ge改性半导体物理的理解及相关器件的研究设计提供有重要的理论参考.     

Diffusion dynamics during the nucleation and growth of Ge/Si nanostructures on Si(111)

We report a low energy electron microscopy study of the relation between self-organized Ge/Si(111)nanostructures and their local environment. By comparison with Monte Carlo simulations, three-dimensional islands are shown to display a substantial tendency towards self-ordering. This tendency may result from the diffusive nature of the nucleation processes. The size of individual nanostructures does not significantly correlate with the distance between neighboring islands. Thus energetic factors are thought to govern the competition among coexisting nanostructures to capture the deposited mass.     

Diffusion of Ge below the Si(100) surface: theory and experiment

We have studied diffusion of Ge into subsurface layers of Si(100). Auger electron diffraction measurements show Ge in the fourth layer after submonolayer growth at temperatures as low as 500 degrees C. Density functional theory predictions of equilibrium Ge subsurface distributions are consistent with the measurements. We identify a surprisingly low energy pathway resulting from low interstitial formation energy in the third and fourth layers. Doping significantly affects the formation energy, suggesting that n-type doping may lead to sharper Si/Ge interfaces.     

Disproportionation phenomena on free and strained Sn/Ge(111) and Sn/Si(111) surfaces

Distortions of the sqrt[3]x sqrt[3] Sn/Ge(111) and Sn/Si(111) surfaces are shown to reflect a disproportionation of an integer pseudocharge, Q, related to the surface band occupancy. A novel understanding of the (3 x 3)-1U ("1 up, 2 down") and 2U ("2 up, 1 down") distortions of Sn/Ge(111) is obtained by a theoretical study of the phase diagram under strain. Positive strain keeps the unstrained value Q=3 but removes distortions. Negative strain attracts pseudocharge from the valence band causing first a (3 x 3)-2U distortion (Q=4) on both Sn/Ge and Sn/Si, and eventually a (sqrt[3] x sqrt[3])-3U ("all up") state with Q=6. The possibility of a fluctuating phase in unstrained Sn/Si(111) is discussed.     

Self-diffusion of (31)Si and (71)Ge in relaxed Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) layers

Self-diffusion of implanted (31)Si and (71)Ge in relaxed Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) layers has been studied in the temperature range 730-950 degrees C by means of a modified radiotracer technique. The temperature dependences of the diffusion coefficients were found to be Arrhenius-type with activation enthalpies of 3.6 eV and 3.5 eV and preexponential factors of 7.5 x 10(-3) m(2) s(-1) and 8.1 x 10(-3) m(2) s(-1) for (31)Si and (71)Ge , respectively. These results suggest that, as in Ge, in Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) both (31)Si and (71)Ge diffuse via a vacancy mechanism. Since in Si(0.20)Ge(0.80) (71)Ge diffuses only slightly faster than (31)Si , in self-diffusion studies on Si-Ge (71)Ge radioisotopes may be used as substitutes for the "uncomfortably" short-lived (31)Si radiotracer atoms.     

Hole effective mass in strained Si (111)

The directional, averaged, and density-of-states effective masses of holes have been calculated for strained Si/(111)Si1-xGex. The results for the directional effective mass show that the effect of strain makes the constant energy surface of heavy holes more obvious warping than that in relaxed Si. The [111] and [110] directional effective masses of heavy holes decrease significantly under strain. It is found that the averaged effective mass of heavy holes decreases with increasing Ge fraction, while that o...     

Ge self-diffusion in epitaxial Si(1)-(x)Ge(x) layers

Diffusion coefficients and activation energies have been determined for Ge diffusion in strain-relaxed Si(1)-(x)Ge(x) with x = 0.00, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.50. The activation energy drops from 4.7 eV in Si and Si(0.90)Ge(0.10) to 3.2 eV at x = 0.50. This value compares with the literature value for Ge self-diffusion in Ge, suggesting Ge-like diffusion already at x approximately equal to 0.5. The effect of strain on the diffusion was also studied showing a decrease in diffusion coefficient and an increase in activation energy upon going from compressive over relaxed to tensile strain.     

Ge/Si(111)与Si/Ge(111)体系的生长特性与表面再构研究

本文利用RHEED和AES对Ge/Si(111)和Si/Ge(111)体系的生长特性与表面再构进行了研究。由此提出了其生长模式,并讨论了应力对生长特性、界面特性和表面再构的作用。     

Comparison of Si and Ge low-loss spectra to interpret the Ge contrast in EFTEM images of Si(1-x) Ge(x) nanostructures

Recently, an EFTEM imaging method, exploiting the inelastically scattered electrons in the 60-90eV energy range, was proposed to visualise Ge in SiGe alloys [Pantel, R., Jullian, S., Delille, D., Dutartre, D., Chantre, A., Kermarrec, O., Campidelli, Y., Kwakman, L.F.T.Z., 2003. Inelastic electron scattering observation using Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy for silicon-germanium nanostructures imaging. Micron 34, 239-247]. This method was proven to be highly more efficient in terms of noise, drift and exposure time than the imaging of the weak and delayed ionization GeL2,3 edge at 1236eV. However, the physical phenomenon behind this Ge contrast was not clearly identified. In this work, we explain the origin of this Ge contrast, by comparing in details EELS low-loss spectra (<100eV) recorded from pure Si and Ge crystals. High resolved low-loss experiments are performed using analytical Field Emission Gun Transmission Electron Microscopes fitted or not with a monochromator. Low-loss spectra (LLS) are then deconvoluted from elastic/quasi-elastic and plural scattering effects. The deconvolution procedure is established from Si spectra recorded with the monochromated machine. The absence of second plasmon and the measurement of a band gap (1.12eV) on the Si single scattering distribution (SSD) spectrum allowed us to control the accuracy of the deconvolution procedure at high and low energy and to state that it could be reliably applied to Ge spectra. We show that the Ge-M4,5 ionisation edge located at 29eV, which is shadowed by the high second plasmon in the unprocessed Ge spectrum, can be clearly separated in the single scattering spectrum. We also show that the front edge of Ge-M4,5 is rather sharp which generates a high intensity post edge tail on several tens of eV. Due to this tail, the Si and Ge EELS signals in the 60 to 100eV energy window are very different and the monitoring of this signal gives information about the Ge concentration inside SiGe alloys. It is now evident that the EFTEM imaging technique proposed to quantify Ge (90eV/60eV image ratio) in Si-Ge nanostructures is valid and is a relevant way of exploiting the Ge-M4-5 ionisation edge.