Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Strain Relaxation in Ge sub x Si sub (1-x) /Si(100) Heteroepitaxy.

By analyzing in-situ strain relaxation measurements of Ge sub x Si sub (1-x) /Si(100) epitaxy in a Transmission electron Microscope, we are able to quantify the fundamental parameters which describe strain energy relaxation via misfit dislocation introduction. Quantitative descriptions of misfit dislocation nucleation, propagation and interaction processes are derived. The numerical parameters obtained from these experiments are then incorporated into a predictive theoretical model of strain relaxation which relies only upon experimentally measured quantities. Good agreement between experiment and theory is obtained over a wide range of data.