Carbon precipitation and diffusion in SiGeC alloys under silicon self-interstitial injection

D. De Salvador, A. Coati, E. Napolitani, M. Berti, A. V. Drigo, M. S. Carroll, J. C. Sturm, J. Stangl, G. Bauer, L. Lazzarini

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Abstract

In this work we investigate the diffusion and precipitation of supersaturated substitutional carbon in 200-nm-thick SiGeC layers buried under a silicon cap layer of 40 nm. The samples were annealed in either inert (N2) or oxidizing (O2) ambient at 850 °C for times ranging from 2 to 10 h. The silicon self-interstitial (I) flux coming from the surface under oxidation enhances the C diffusion with respect to the N2-annealed samples. In the early stages of the oxidation process, the loss of C from the SiGeC layer by diffusion across the layer/cap interface dominates. This phenomenon saturates after an initial period (2-4 h), which depends on the C concentration. This saturation is due to the formation and growth of C-containing precipitates that are promoted by the I injection and act as a sink for mobile C atoms. The influence of carbon concentration on the competition between precipitation and diffusion is discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)667-672
Number of pages6
JournalApplied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing
Volume75
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2002

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Materials Science

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