On the use of MEIS cartography for the determination of Si1–xGex thin-film strain

• Simple method to get the stereographic projection of crystalline thin films
• Cartography map for Si1-xGex using Medium Energy Ion Scattering
• Capability of measuring depth-dependent strain in thin films or any other nanostructured material

The cartography from MEIS (Medium Energy Ion Scattering) is used to measure lattice deformation of strained Si1–xGex/Si heterogeneous epitaxial structures. Higher crystallographic index directions are shown to be specially sensitive to strain leading to a clear quantification of the strain with high sensitivity and accuracy. We provide a simple method to determine the lattice deformation and checked it against full Monte-Carlo simulations. Since MEIS has an excellent depth resolution it can be potentially used to quantify depth-dependent strain in thin-films as well as in nano-structured materials.