ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
We use a combination of in situ and postdeposition experimental probes together with ab initio calculations of strain coefficients and formation energies associated with specific C configurations in the Si lattice to determine C incorporation pathways and lattice site distributions in fully coherent Si1−yCy alloy layers grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on Si(001) as a function of deposition temperature Ts (380 °C–680 °C) and C fraction y (0–0.026). Lattice strain and Raman spectroscopy measurements demonstrate that all C, irrespective of y, is incorporated into substitutional lattice sites in Si1−yCy(001) layers grown at Ts≤480 °C. Increasing Ts≥580 °C leads to strong C surface segregation, as shown by in situ angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, yielding additional pathways for C incorporation. Photoluminescence measurements indicate that an increasing fraction of the incorporated C in the higher-temperature layers resides in dicarbon complexes. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction and cross sectional transmission electron microscopy reveal surface roughening at Ts≥580 °C with the formation of bulk planar structures, interconnected by {113} segments, that are periodic along [001] with a periodicity which decreases with increasing Ts. We interpret the planar structures as layers of C-rich Si1−yCy which form in the presence of excess surface C resulting from segregation. Our ab initio density functional calculations show that substitutional C arranged in an ordered Si4C phase is 0.34 eV per C atom more stable than isolated substitutional C atoms. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1465122
