Abstract
Boron-doped Ge1−x Sn x alloys with atomic fractions of tin up to x = 0.08 were grown on n-Ge(001) substrates using solid-source molecular beam epitaxy, in order to study their structural properties. The total boron concentration in the alloys was ~ 1018 cm−3 as measured by secondary-ion mass spectroscopy, which also indicated low amounts of impurities such as carbon and oxygen. More than 90% of the Sn atoms occupied substitutional lattice sites in the alloy as determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. High-resolution x-ray diffraction showed that the boron-doped Ge1−x Sn x alloys were single crystals that were completely strained with low defect densities and coherent interfaces for thickness up to 90 nm, and for Sn composition of 8%. The boron-doped Ge1−x Sn x /n-Ge formed p–n junctions with conventional rectifying characteristics, indicating that the boron produced electrically active acceptor states.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank D. Beatson, S. DeVore, N. Faleev, K. Goossen, M. Kim, R. Martin, R. Opila, M. Pikulin, G. Pomrenke, R. Soref, K. Unruh, Y. K. Yeo, and S. Zollner for useful and meaningful discussions. This work was financially supported by the AFOSR under Grant Nos. FA9550-09-1-0688 and FA9550-13-1-0022, by Voltaix Corporation under Grant No. 12A01464, and by gifts from IBM Corporation, IR Labs, and Voltaix Corporation.
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Bhargava, N., Gupta, J.P., Adam, T. et al. Structural Properties of Boron-Doped Germanium-Tin Alloys Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy. J. Electron. Mater. 43, 931–937 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-014-3088-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-014-3088-3