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.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
14 March 2015
Research Article|
March 13 2015
Delayed plastic relaxation limit in SiGe islands grown by Ge diffusion from a local source
G. M. Vanacore;
G. M. Vanacore
a)
1
CNISM-Dipartimento di Fisica
, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
G. Nicotra;
G. Nicotra
2
IMM-CNR
, Stradale Primosole 50, I-95121 Catania, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
M. Zani;
M. Zani
1
CNISM-Dipartimento di Fisica
, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
M. Bollani;
M. Bollani
3
CNR-IFN, LNESS
, Via Anzani 42, I-22100 Como, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
E. Bonera;
E. Bonera
4Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali and L-NESS,
Università Milano-Bicocca
, via Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
F. Montalenti;
F. Montalenti
4Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali and L-NESS,
Università Milano-Bicocca
, via Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
G. Capellini;
G. Capellini
5
Department of Sciences at the Università Roma Tre
, Via Vasca Navale 79, 00146 Roma, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
G. Isella;
G. Isella
6
CNISM, LNESS, Dipartimento di Fisica
, Politecnico di Milano (Polo di Como), Via Anzani 42, I-22100 Como, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
J. Osmond;
J. Osmond
7
ICFO–The Institute of Photonic Sciences
, Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 3, E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Picco;
A. Picco
4Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali and L-NESS,
Università Milano-Bicocca
, via Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
F. Boioli;
F. Boioli
b)
4Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali and L-NESS,
Università Milano-Bicocca
, via Cozzi 53, I-20125 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
A. Tagliaferri
A. Tagliaferri
c)
1
CNISM-Dipartimento di Fisica
, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Present address: Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology, Arthur Amos Noyes Laboratory of Chemical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
b)
Present address: UMET, University of Lille 1, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
c)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Appl. Phys. 117, 104309 (2015)
Article history
Received:
October 14 2014
Accepted:
February 27 2015
Citation
G. M. Vanacore, G. Nicotra, M. Zani, M. Bollani, E. Bonera, F. Montalenti, G. Capellini, G. Isella, J. Osmond, A. Picco, F. Boioli, A. Tagliaferri; Delayed plastic relaxation limit in SiGe islands grown by Ge diffusion from a local source. J. Appl. Phys. 14 March 2015; 117 (10): 104309. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4914409
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
A step-by-step guide to perform x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Grzegorz Greczynski, Lars Hultman
Piezoelectric thin films and their applications in MEMS: A review
Jinpeng Liu, Hua Tan, et al.
Tutorial: Simulating modern magnetic material systems in mumax3
Jonas J. Joos, Pedram Bassirian, et al.
Related Content
Shaping site-controlled uniform arrays of SiGe/Si(001) islands by in situ annealing
Appl. Phys. Lett. (November 2009)
Metastability and relaxation in tensile SiGe on Ge(001) virtual substrates
J. Appl. Phys. (September 2014)
Tensile strain in Ge membranes induced by SiGe nanostressors
Appl. Phys. Lett. (September 2016)
Strain release management in SiGe/Si films by substrate patterning
Appl. Phys. Lett. (December 2014)
Substrate strain manipulation by nanostructure perimeter forces
J. Appl. Phys. (April 2013)