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Influence of H2 on strain evolution of high-Sn-content Ge1−x Sn x alloys

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Abstract

Ge1-x Sn x films with Sn content of up to 12 % were grown on Ge substrates using magnetron sputter epitaxy. The Ge0.88Sn0.12 film grown in a pure Ar atmosphere was fully strained with a compressive strain magnitude of approximately 1.5 %, while the films were partially relaxed when grown in an H2/Ar mixture. It was revealed that the film’s lattice constant was increased in the presence of hydrogen by enhancing Sn migration to the subsurface layers, leading to the relaxation. The strain along the depth was investigated by Raman spectra and found to decrease greatly from the bottom of the Ge0.88Sn0.12 film to the top surface. Our results indicate that hydrogenation is a potential method for strain relaxation in high-Sn-content Ge1−x Sn x films.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2013CB632103), National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 61307079, 61223005, Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 4162063, 2142031) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS (No.2015091).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100083, Beijing, China

    Jun Zheng, Wenqi Huang, Zhi Liu, Chunlai Xue, Chuanbo Li, Yuhua Zuo, Buwen Cheng & Qiming Wang

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  1. Jun Zheng
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  2. Wenqi Huang
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  3. Zhi Liu
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  4. Chunlai Xue
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  8. Qiming Wang
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Correspondence to Jun Zheng.

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Zheng, J., Huang, W., Liu, Z. et al. Influence of H2 on strain evolution of high-Sn-content Ge1−x Sn x alloys. J Mater Sci 52, 431–436 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0342-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0342-5

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