Bulk stress due to surface damage of crystalline silicon and germanium

Abstract

It is found that abrading two opposing surfaces of either crystalline Si or Ge samples results in homogeneous, uniaxial stress throughout the bulk perpendicular to the damaged surfaces. The latter are chosen to coincide with simple crystallographic planes. This conclusion is reached by analyzing the splittings, intensities, and polarizations of the absorption lines of the Lyman series of bulk shallow impurities in the abraded semiconductors. This effect has been observed for samples which range in thickness, t, from 1 to 3 mm, the internal stress being proportional to t−1.