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Microstructure evolution in amorphous Ge/Si multilayers grown by magnetron sputter deposition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

K. Järrendahl
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Thin Film Physics Division, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
I. Ivanov
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Thin Film Physics Division, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
J-E. Sundgren
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Thin Film Physics Division, Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
G. Radnóczi
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Technical Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 76, H-1325 Budapest, Hungary
Zs. Czigany
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Technical Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 76, H-1325 Budapest, Hungary
J. E. Greene
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science, the Coordinated Science Laboratory, and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
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Abstract

Microstructure evolution in amorphous Ge/Si multilayers grown by dual-target dc magnetron sputtering was investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and growth simulations. In films grown under low intensity ion-irradiation conditions, the structure is columnar with low-density regions along column boundaries where layer intermixing was observed. By increasing the low-irradiation intensity (controlled by an applied negative substrate-bias), structures with smooth and well-defined layers could be grown. This was achieved at bias voltages between 80 and 140 V, depending on the sputtering gas pressure. As the ion-irradiation intensity is further increased, ion-induced intermixing degrades the layer interfaces and finally an amorphous Si1−xGex alloy forms. The combination of x-ray diffraction measurements and reflectivity calculations reveals an asymmetry between the Ge/Si and Si/Ge interface widths due, primarily, to a corresponding asymmetry in incident particle energies during the growth of alternate layers.

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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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