Evolution of strain relaxation in compositionally graded Si1−<i>x</i>Ge<i>x</i> films on Si(001)

Abstract

High-resolution x-ray reciprocal space mapping was employed to determine the in-depth strain distribution of Si1−xGex films with linear composition gradings between 4.2% and 15% Ge per μm, and thicknesses between 0.4 and 1.7 μm. The variation of grading and thickness parameters of the samples provides a complete picture of the overall relaxation behavior of linearly graded epilayers. The x-ray data show a top layer of grading-dependent residual strain whereas the lower parts of the films are completely and/or partly relaxed with respect to the Si substrate.