Characterization of gas-source molecular beam epitaxial growth of strain-compensated Si 1− x− yGe xC y/Si(0 0 1) heterostructure

Abstract

Strain-compensated SiGeC ternary alloys have been successfully grown on Si(0 0 1) substrate by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Si 2H 6 and GeH 4 are used as Si and Ge sources, respectively, while CH 6Ge (monomethylgermane: CH 3GeH 3, MMGe) is employed as the C source. Compressive strain in the SiGe/Si system is reduced by adding MMGe, which works not only as a C source but also as a Ge source. The magnitude of strain is evaluated by MeV-ion channeling. An almost strain-compensated Si 0.794Ge 0.19C 0.016/Si(0 0 1) heterostructure is grown at 550°C with good uniformity and a flat surface.