MICROSCALE ELASTIC-STRAIN DETERMINATION BY BACKSCATTER KIKUCHI DIFFRACTION IN THE SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE

It is shown that backscatter Kikuchi diffraction in the scanning electron microscope can be used for the determination of elastic strain with mum resolution. From the shift of Kikuchi bands in backscatter Kikuchi diffraction patterns of epitaxial Si1-xGex layers on Si(100) the perpendicular elastic strain was determined to be 2.5% for x=0.34 and at 1.0% for x=0.16 with an accuracy of about 0.1%. The values found on a mum scale were in good agreement with high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements averaging over mm distances.