Composition and Stress Analysis in Si/SiGe Structures

Strained Si technology enables improvements in CMOS performance and functionality via replacement of the bulk, cubic-crystal Si substrate with a Si substrate that contains a tetragonally distorted, biaxially strained Si thin film at the surface. Here we use micro-Raman spectroscopy to enable us to characterise growth processes of strained silicon, and to characterise the resulting level of strain/stress in the silicon and the effect it has on the underlying layer of graded SiGe.