ABSTRACT
(Si,Ge) islands grown on Si(OOI) either by liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) or by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) were investigated with respect to their structural and chemical properties using different transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The effect of strain relaxation of the islands is visualized by both diffraction-contrast TEM and quantitative high-resolution TEM (qHRTEM). The materials system (Si,Ge) on Si is subject of vivid fundamental research. This is due to the possibility of using the well-developed Si technology and to the self-organized formation of islands caused by the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the island material. Two growth procedures were applied, viz. liquid phase epitaxy running under nearly thermodynamic equilibrium and molecular beam epitaxy which proceeds far away from it. The preparation of cross-sectional TEM samples included mechanical prethinning and final ion milling. Structural investigations were carried out by diffraction-contrast as well as high-resolution TEM utilizing a Hitachi H-811 0 and a Philips CM20 FEG both operating at 200 kV.
