Thin compliant SiGe for relaxed SiGe and strained Si growth

Research into the creation of a thin compliant SiGe layer with alloy concentrations of 20, 30, and 40% Ge for the subsequent growth of thin relaxed SiGe layers having a total thickness less than 0.5 μm is presented. The concept of a compliant layer, through the formation of threading dislocations, is developed and investigated with atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. We find that we are able to induce dislocations in the compliant layer and thereby produce more relaxed SiGe layers for device applications than would be possible from simple growth of the SiGe layers.