Fabrication of well-defined individual dislocations in SiGe as a novel one-dimensional system

We show a new way to fabricate well-defined individual dislocations in SiGe. We started with a fully pseudomorphic but metastable SiGe layer grown on Si(0 0 1) by molecular beam epitaxy. Next, elongated (∼1 mm) mesa stripes with various widths (0.5–3 μm) were fabricated by a combination of isotropic and anisotropic etching. For smaller stripes, elastic relaxation of the strained SiGe layer can occur, transforming the originally biaxial strained layer into uniaxial strained subsystems. Subsequent strain relaxation caused by high temperature treatments leads to the formation of individual dislocation along the mesa stripes. The number of parallel dislocation can be adjusted by the original strain (Si:Ge ratio and layer thickness) and the mesa widths. We were able to fabricate structures with exactly one dislocation. Finally, contact pads were added to the stripes enabling the electrical characterization of individual dislocation.