Relaxation process of interfacial misfit between homoepitaxial silicon crystals

Abstract

The relaxation of misfit between epitaxially deposited silicon films and boron-doped silicon substrates by the generation of dislocations has been investigated as a function of the degree of misfit, annealing treatment and the film and substrate thicknesses. For samples with relatively small misfit values, the observed variation of elastic strains remaining in the films as a function of the film thickness is much larger than the equilibrium values predicted by existing theories. In the case of relatively large misfit, however, the measured strains approach the theoretical values as the film thickness increases. These experimental results are discussed by considering the process which impedes the generation of dislocations in the diamond type crystal structures.