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...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2021-12-01
|
Series: | Materials & Design |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127521006900 |
id |
doaj-a07697fc2fcc4bb7968cd8c9bec98adf |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
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 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT gerardcolston strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes AT olivernewell strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes AT stephendrhead strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes AT vishalashah strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes AT maksymmyronov strainmappingofsiliconcarbonsuspendedmembranes |
_version_ |
1716830779670003712 |