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Semiconductor heteroepitaxy on top of thin compliant layers has been explored as a path to make inorganic electronics mechanically flexible as well as to integrate materials that cannot be grown directly on rigid substrates. Here, we show direct evidences of strain transfer for InAs islands on freestanding Si thin films (7 nm). Synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements using a beam size of 300 x 700 nm² can directly probe the strain status of the compliant substrate underneath deposited islands. Using a recently developed diffraction mapping technique, three-dimensional reciprocal space maps were reconstructed around the Si (004) peak for specific illuminated positions of the sample. The strain retrieved was analyzed using continuous elasticity theory via Finite-element simulations. The comparison of experiment and simulations yields the amount of strain from the InAs islands, which is transferred to the compliant Si thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strain in silicon induced by Through-Silicon Via (TSV) integration is of particular interest in the frame of the integration of active devices in silicon interposer. Nano-focused X-ray beam diffraction experiments were conducted using synchrotron radiation to investigate the thermally induced strain field in silicon around copper filled TSVs. Measurements were performed on thinned samples at room temperature and during in situ annealing at 400°C. In order to correlate the 2D strain maps with finite elements analysis, an analytical model was developed, which takes into account beam absorption in the sample for a given diffraction geometry. The strain field along the [335] direction is found to be in the 10-5 range at room temperature and around 10-4 at 400°C. Simulations support the expected plastification in some regions of the TSV during the annealing step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compositional atomic ordering is a crucial issue in the epitaxial growth of nanoparticles and thin films. Here, we report on a method based on x-ray diffuse scattering close to basis forbidden Bragg reflections to infer the lateral location, the symmetry, and the thermal stability of ordered domains in GeSi dome-shaped islands on Si(001) after growth and during annealing. We observe that atomic ordering does not disappear after annealing, demonstrating that it is a resilient metastable phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compositional atomic ordering is a crucial issue in the epitaxial growth of nanoparticles and thin films. Here, we report on a method based on x-ray diffuse scattering close to basis forbidden Bragg reflections to infer the lateral location, the symmetry, and the thermal stability of ordered domains in GeSi dome-shaped islands on Si(001) after growth and during annealing. We observe that atomic ordering does not disappear after annealing, demonstrating that it is a resilient metastable phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic relaxation and formation of defects is a crucial issue in the epitaxial growth of nanoparticles and thin films. Here, we report an in situ non-destructive method based on x-ray diffuse scattering close to forbidden reflections to study the formation of defects during the growth of Ge islands on Si(001). The dependence of in-plane spacing between interfacial dislocations, defect size, and density is analyzed as a function of Ge-deposit. It is found that the introduction of additional defects is preferred to relieve strain during growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composition and strain inhomogeneities strongly affect the optoelectronic properties of InGaN but their origin has been unclear. Here we report real-time x-ray reciprocal space mapping that reveals the development of strain and composition distributions during metal-organic chemical vapor deposition of InxGa1-xN on GaN. Strong, correlated inhomogeneities of the strain state and In fraction x arise during growth in a manner consistent with models for instabilities driven by strain relaxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments and numerical simulations based on finite element modeling show that the x-ray intensity scattered by comparatively large nanostructures on a substrate is not simply related to their strain in experiments using either grazing incidence or exit because of multiple scattering effects. However, whatever the nanostructure size, the composition profiles are correctly extracted from grazing incidence multiwavelength anomalous scattering. These effects are illustrated for the structural analysis of Ge dome-shaped islands grown on Si(001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of Ge on Si(001) is investigated in situ at 500 and 600 °C, combining grazing incidence diffraction, multiple wavelength anomalous diffraction, and small angle scattering. This allows probing simultaneously the island shape, strain state, composition, and the transition from wetting layer to island growth. At 500 °C no intermixing occurs. The wetting layer is found to decrease by one atomic layer at the onset of island nucleation. At 600 °C interdiffusion plays an important role in strain relaxation leading to a more stable wetting layer. Small angle scattering yields the island morphology and shows the transition from pyramids to multifacetted domes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the spatial distribution of strain and lattice orientation in CMOS fabricated strained Ge microstripes using high resolution x-ray micro-diffraction. The recently developed model-free characterization tool, based on a quick scanning x-ray diffraction microscopy technique can image strain down to levels of 10-5 (δa/a) with a spatial resolution of ~0.5 μm. Strain and lattice tilt are extracted using the strain and orientation calculation software package X-SOCS. The obtained results are compared with the biaxial strain distribution obtained by lattice parameter-sensitive μ-Raman and μ-photoluminescence measurements. The experimental data are interpreted with the help of finite element modeling of the strain relaxation dynamics in the investigated structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of the spatial distribution of strain and lattice orientation in CMOSfabricated strained Ge microstripes using high resolution x-ray micro-diffraction. The recently developed model-free characterization tool, based on a quick scanning x-ray diffraction microscopy technique can image strain down to levels of 10-5 (△a/a) with a spatial resolution of ~0.5 μm. Strain and lattice tilt are extracted using the strain and orientation calculation software package X-SOCS. The obtained results are compared with the biaxial strain distribution obtained by lattice parameter-sensitive i-Raman and i-photoluminescence measurements. The experimental data are interpreted with the help of finite element modeling of the strain relaxation dynamics in the investigated structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nucleation and the evolution of dislocations in SiGe/Si(001) films can be controlled and confined along stripes aligned along pits carved in the substrate, leaving micrometric coherent areas free of dislocations. In this work, we have addressed the stability of such metastable areas versus, film thickness, different Ge contents (xGe=10%-30%) and larger pit-pattern periods, revealing the flexibility and effectiveness of this method even for coherent areas of about 64 µm². The thermal stability of such configuration has been finally verified by post-growth annealing treatment, in order to simulate device processing. Finally, µRaman spectroscopy and X-ray nanodiffraction have been used to characterize the periodic strain variations across the pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-situ synchrotron x-ray observations reveal that the ferroelectric behavior of epitaxial (001) PbTiO3 thin films grown on (110) DyScO3 substrates depends on both film thickness and interfacial electrical properties. A 92-nm-thick film was found to exhibit an a/c domain structure with a ferroelectric Curie temperature similar to that theoretically predicted based on the strain state. In contrast, 6-nm-thick films contained only c-oriented domains, and the ferroelectric behavior was found to depend strongly on the nature of the electrical boundary condition at the buried interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]