Thermal stability of compressively strained Si/relaxed Si1-xCx heterostructures formed on Ar ion implanted Si (100) substrates

Thermal stability of compressively strained Si/relaxed Si1-xCx heterostructure formed with the defect control by Ar ion implantation was investigated. It was found that compressive strain is sustained up to 900 °C without prominent change in surface roughness. From the X-ray diffraction reciprocal space mapping, it was found that relaxed Si1-xCx layer is stable up to at least 800 °C, and compressively strained Si1-xCx with relatively large thickness is formed by annealing at temperatures higher than 900 °C owing to redistribution of C atoms. These results indicate that the compressively strained Si/relaxed Si1-xCx heterostructure formed by Ar ion implantation technique is available up to at least 800 °C and has a potential to be used at more than 900 °C.