Growth of bulk SiGe single crystals by liquid phase diffusion

The article presents a study for liquid phase diffusion (LPD) growth of compositionally graded, germanium-rich SixGe1−x single crystals of 25 mm in diameter for use as lattice-matched substrates for the growth of SixGe1−x single crystals by liquid phase electropitaxy (LPEE), or traveling heater method (THM). Grown crystals were characterized by microscopic examination after chemical etching for delineation of the degree of single crystallinity and growth striations. Compositional mapping of selected crystals was performed by using electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) as well as energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). It was shown that the LPD technique can be utilized to obtain SixGe1−x single crystals up to 6-8 at% Si with uniform radial composition distribution.