High Pressure Oxidation of Strained Si_1-xGe Alloys

Abstract

Thermal passivation of Si_1-x Ge_x using high pressure (10,000 psi) oxidation was studied. Alloys of Si_1-xGe_x (with x=5.4, 11.6, and 17 at. %) approximately 200 nm thick were oxidized using two processes: (i) dry oxygen at 10,000 psi at a temperature of 550°C and (ii) conventional, 1 atm steam at 800°C. The wet oxidation conditions were chosen to produce an oxide thickness comparable (=100 nm for x_Ge=11.6 at. %) to that obtained during high pressure oxidation at 550°C. Auger sputter depth profiling (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the as-grown oxides. XPS studies reveal that high pressure oxides formed from all three of the alloys of Si_1-xGe_x have greatly enhanced incorporation of Ge compared to those grown to a similar thickness under wet atmospheric conditions. We report that a significant benefit of this increase in Ge incorporation is the minimization of Ge enrichment near the oxide/Si_1-xGe_x interface. Cross-sectional TEM images reveal a 30 nm thick Ge-rich band at the wet oxide/alloy interface and a dramatically thinner band (<5 nm) present at the oxide/alloy interface produced by high pressure oxidation. For the atmospheric oxidation samples, interfacial misfit dislocations were observed at the alloy/substrate interface indicating that the film relaxed during oxidation. In contrast, the high pressure samples showed no interfacial defects after oxidation.