Polarized Raman microscopy of anisotropic stress relaxation in strained-Si-on-insulator stripes

Abstract

Using a high-numerical-aperture lens, we studied strain relaxation in the [110]-oriented strained-silicon-on-insulator (SSOI) stripes. A complete set of Si optical phonon Raman bands was observed. For a 50 nm thick SSOI, the symmetrical biaxial tensile stress in a relatively wide stripe is found to transform to the uniaxial [110] stress at its edge. The same uniaxial stress is observed in the narrow stripes with widths <200 nm, the value, probably, being a critical width for a complete SSOI transverse stress relaxation.