ABSTRACT
Modern silicon technology is best characterized by the development of the dynamic random access memory chips. The Silicon/germanium (Si/Ge) material system can be considered as a model system for the study of strain effects because of the complete chemical miscibility and similar chemistry of its constituents Si and Ge, which reduce overlaying chemical effects The electrical and optical properties of these superlattices are controllable by geometrical dimensions, the chemical composition and the strain of the superlattice structure. The tension between the superlattice and the alloy buffer layer and between the buffer and the substrate leads to a bending of the Silicon substrate which can be measured by x-ray curvature measurements. Ultrathin superlattices based on Silicon substrates are good candidates for optical devices such as light-emitting diodes and photodetectors since their emission and detection wavelength can be tuned in the long haul optical communication spectral band.
