SiGe wet chemical etchants with high compositional selectivity and low strain sensitivity

doi:10.1088/0268-1242/23/8/085021

SiGe wet chemical etchants with high compositional selectivity and low strain sensitivity

M Stoffel et al 2008 Semicond. Sci. Technol. 23 085021 (6pp) doi: 10.1088/0268-1242/23/8/085021

PDF (1.66 MB) | References | Articles citing this article

M Stoffel^1,2, A Malachias¹, T Merdzhanova¹, F Cavallo^1,2, G Isella³, D Chrastina³, H von Känel³, A Rastelli^1,2 and O G Schmidt^1,2
¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstraße 1, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
² Institute for Integrative Nanosciences, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany
³ L-NESS, Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico di Milano, Polo Regionale di Como, Via Anzani 42, I-22100, Como, Italy
E-mail: m.stoffel@fkf.mpg.de

Abstract. We investigate the effect of strain on the etching rate of two SiGe selective wet etchants, namely NH₄OH:H₂O₂ and H₂O₂, which are currently used to investigate the composition of strained SiGe layers. We measured the etching rates for relaxed Si_1−xGe_x layers and for layers under a ±0.84% biaxial strain with different nominal Ge fraction x. For both etchants, we found that there is no appreciable strain sensitivity, i.e. the etching rates do not depend on the actual strain state in the SiGe films. Instead, for the NH₄OH:H₂O₂ solution, the rates are primarily determined by the Ge content. Finally, we show that both etchants are isotropic with no preferential etching of particular facets.

Print publication: Issue 8 (August 2008)
Received 11 December 2007, in final form 28 March 2008
Published 16 July 2008

Post to CiteUlike |

Post to Connotea |

Post to Bibsonomy

SiGe wet chemical etchants with high compositional selectivity and low strain sensitivity

Find related articles

Article options

Authors & Referees