Convergent beam electron diffraction measurements of relaxation in strained silicon using higher order Laue zone line splitting

Convergent beam electron diffraction patterns of silicon from blanket wafers of 50nmSi0.85Ge0.15 on Si and 126nmSi0.79Ge0.21 on Si and from a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor with recessed Si0.82Ge0.18 stressors were analyzed at zone axes slightly off 110. It was shown that certain higher order Laue zone lines split near the SiGe/Si interfaces, indicating that considerable relaxation occurred during the preparation of the transmission electron microscopy specimens. The variation in splitting as a function of distance from the interface and sample thickness is described. A simple method was used to estimate the relaxation and was compared to behavior predicted by linear elastic finite element modeling of the structures. These methods showed reasonable agreement for the structures that were examined.

Convergent beam electron diffraction measurements of relaxation in strained silicon using higher order Laue zone line splitting Academic Article