REGROWTH AND STRAIN RECOVERY OF SB IMPLANTED SI1-XGEX STRAINED LAYERS

Solid phase epitaxial growth (SPEG) and strain recovery of Sb implanted strained Si1-xGex alloy layers are reported. Three sets of Si1-xGex epilayers with compositions of x = 0.08, 0.10 and 0.18, MBE grown on (100)Si substrates, were implanted at room temperature with Sb+ ions at energies of 200 and 100 keV, and doses of 10(12), 10(13) and 10(15) cm-2. These alloys were heat-treated in a rapid thermal annealing system at temperatures between 500 and 1000-degrees-C for durations between 5 and 600 s. Ion backscattering (channeling) measurements show a decrease in the regrowth rate compared to Sb implanted (100)Si. The growth rate for x = 0.08 was characterized by an activation energy of 2.9 +/- 0.2 eV. Double crystal X-ray diffraction measurements of lattice distortion show that the radiation damage changes the strain levels of the epilayers depending on the Ge content of the SiGe and on implantation parameters. However, the post-irradiation damage does not reduce the strain stability of SiGe layers with respect to dislocations formation.