Strain Evolution in Coherent <span class="aps-inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>Ge</mi><mi>/</mi><mi>Si</mi></math></span> Islands

Chuan-Pu Liu; J. Murray Gibson; David G. Cahill; Theodore I. Kamins; David P. Basile; R. Stanley Williams

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.1958

Strain Evolution in Coherent $Ge / Si$ Islands

Chuan-Pu Liu, J. Murray Gibson, David G. Cahill, Theodore I. Kamins, David P. Basile, and R. Stanley Williams

Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1958 – Published 28 February 2000

Abstract

Strain evolution of coherent Ge islands on Si(001) is measured using a newly developed transmission electron microscopy technique based on two-beam dark-field strain imaging. The strain measurements show that a metastable Ge island shape is involved in the shape transition between pyramids and domes; this shape is more readily observed for growth at 550 than $600 ° C$ because of the slower rate at which islands cross the kinetic barrier between shapes. The strain relaxation changes discontinuously between pyramids and domes, indicating that the underlying shape transition is first order.

Received 24 May 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.1958

Authors & Affiliations

Chuan-Pu Liu^1,*, J. Murray Gibson¹, David G. Cahill¹, Theodore I. Kamins², David P. Basile², and R. Stanley Williams²

¹Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 104 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801
²Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, P.O. Box 10350, Palo Alto, California 94303-0867