Photostimulated relaxation of internal mechanical stresses in epitaxial SOS structures

The nature of internal mechanical stresses in the thin silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) epitaxial films is studied, and their value is estimated. They are ～10¹⁹ Pa and have a compressive character. The effects of pulsed laser and lamp annealings on stress relaxation are analyzed, and stress relaxation is shown to reach 90% under certain annealing conditions. An electron mechanism, which is based on a change in the quantum state of the electron subsystem of a crystal during pulsed photon annealing, is proposed for annealing of structural defects.