Ch. Zgheib

Raman studies of Ge-promoted stress modulation in 3C–SiC grown on Si(111)

We present a study of the stress state in cubic silicon carbide (3C–SiC) thin films (120 and 300 nm) grown by solid-source molecular-beam epitaxy (SSMBE) on Si(111) substrates modified by the deposition of germanium prior to the carbonization of Si. μ-Raman measurements were used to determine the residual stress existing in the 3C–SiC layers. The stress is found to decrease linearly with increasing Ge quantity but with different strength depending on the 3C–SiC thickness deposited after the introduction of Ge. Based on secondary ions mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses it is suggested that the Ge introduced prior to the carbonization step remains in the near-interface region and reduces the Si outdiffusion, which further reduces the stress state of the 3C–SiC layers.

Oxygen behavior in aluminum nitride

The infrared lattice-vibration spectra of three polycrystalline samples of wurtzite AlN differing in their oxygen contamination have been studied by measuring the room-temperature reflectivity at near-normal incidence in the 400-3000cm−1 frequency range using unpolarized light. A type of highly-contaminated-material reflectivity spectrum has been observed. Two-mode behavior has been observed at low oxygen concentration, one-mode behavior tends to be dominant when the oxygen concentration increases and only one-mode behavior has been observed at high oxygen concentration. Otherwise, a careful analysis of the data using the Kramers-Kronig technique and classical dispersion theory gives, in addition to the transverse and longitudinal mode frequencies, two in-band resonance modes attributed to oxygen point defects in AlN. Changes in the frequencies of these modes with oxygen concentration are interpreted as a transition in the oxygen accommodation defect as the concentration of oxygen increases. A model for t...

Ge-modified Si(100) substrates for the growth of 3C-SiC(100)

An alternative route to improve the epitaxial growth of 3C-SiC(100) on Si(100) was developed. It consists in covering the silicon wafers with germanium prior to the carbonization step of the silicon substrate. Transmission electron microscopy and μ-Raman investigations revealed an improvement in the residual strain and crystalline quality of the grown 3C-SiC layers comparable to or better than in the case of 3C-SiC grown on silicon on insulator substrates. These beneficial effects were reached by using a Ge coverage in the range of 0.5–1 monolayer.

Reconstruction of concentration profiles in heterostructures with chemically modified interfaces

An approach for the reconstruction of the composition profiles of heterostructures with chemically modified interfaces is presented. It is based on the comprehensive simulation of the heterostructure growth stages and the compositional changes occurring at the depth profiling stage during sputtering by secondary ion mass spectrometry. Combining simulation of the growth and the concentration measurement process allows the calculation of the real concentration depth profiles of the heterostructure components. Within the framework of the proposed approach, the composition of the SiC:Ge/Ge/Si:Ge/Si heterostructure is analyzed and the real depth profiles were calculated.