Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes

The alloy silicon carbon (Si1-yCy) has various strain engineering applications. It is often implemented as a dopant diffusion barrier and has been identified as a potential buffer layer for cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) heteroepitaxy. While suspended membranes formed from thin films of semiconducto...

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Main Authors: Gerard Colston, Oliver Newell, Stephen D. Rhead, Vishal A. Shah, Maksym Myronov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-12-01
Series:Materials & Design
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521006900
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spelling doaj-a07697fc2fcc4bb7968cd8c9bec98adf2021-10-09T04:35:27ZengElsevierMaterials & Design0264-12752021-12-01211110135Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranesGerard Colston0Oliver Newell1Stephen D. Rhead2Vishal A. Shah3Maksym Myronov4Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKDepartment of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKDepartment of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKSchool of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UKDepartment of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK; Corresponding author.The alloy silicon carbon (Si1-yCy) has various strain engineering applications. It is often implemented as a dopant diffusion barrier and has been identified as a potential buffer layer for cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) heteroepitaxy. While suspended membranes formed from thin films of semiconductor (Ge and 3C-SiC) and dielectric (Si3N4) materials have been well studied, pseudomorphic, defect-free epilayers under high levels of tensile strain have received little attention. Often, tensile strain is a desired quality of semiconductors and enhancing this property can lead to various benefits of subsequent device applications. The strain state and crystalline tilt of suspended Si1-yCy epilayers have been investigated through micro-X-ray diffraction techniques. The in-plane tensile strain of the alloy was found to increase from 0.67% to 0.82%. This strain increase could reduce the C content required to achieve suitable levels of strain in such alloys and further strain enhancement could be externally induced. The source of this strain increase was found to stem from slight tilts at the edges of the membranes, however, the bulk of the suspended films remained flat. The novel process utilised to fabricate suspended Si1-yCy thin-films is applicable to many other materials that are typically not resistant to anisotropic Si wet etchants.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521006900Silicon carbonSilicon boronStrainMembranesMEMS
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Gerard Colston
Oliver Newell
Stephen D. Rhead
Vishal A. Shah
Maksym Myronov
spellingShingle Gerard Colston
Oliver Newell
Stephen D. Rhead
Vishal A. Shah
Maksym Myronov
Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
Materials & Design
Silicon carbon
Silicon boron
Strain
Membranes
MEMS
author_facet Gerard Colston
Oliver Newell
Stephen D. Rhead
Vishal A. Shah
Maksym Myronov
author_sort Gerard Colston
title Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
title_short Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
title_full Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
title_fullStr Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
title_full_unstemmed Strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
title_sort strain mapping of silicon carbon suspended membranes
publisher Elsevier
series Materials & Design
issn 0264-1275
publishDate 2021-12-01
description The alloy silicon carbon (Si1-yCy) has various strain engineering applications. It is often implemented as a dopant diffusion barrier and has been identified as a potential buffer layer for cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) heteroepitaxy. While suspended membranes formed from thin films of semiconductor (Ge and 3C-SiC) and dielectric (Si3N4) materials have been well studied, pseudomorphic, defect-free epilayers under high levels of tensile strain have received little attention. Often, tensile strain is a desired quality of semiconductors and enhancing this property can lead to various benefits of subsequent device applications. The strain state and crystalline tilt of suspended Si1-yCy epilayers have been investigated through micro-X-ray diffraction techniques. The in-plane tensile strain of the alloy was found to increase from 0.67% to 0.82%. This strain increase could reduce the C content required to achieve suitable levels of strain in such alloys and further strain enhancement could be externally induced. The source of this strain increase was found to stem from slight tilts at the edges of the membranes, however, the bulk of the suspended films remained flat. The novel process utilised to fabricate suspended Si1-yCy thin-films is applicable to many other materials that are typically not resistant to anisotropic Si wet etchants.
topic Silicon carbon
Silicon boron
Strain
Membranes
MEMS
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521006900
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AT stephendrhead strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes
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AT maksymmyronov strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes
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