Strains in Si-on-SiO sub 2 structures formed by oxygen implantation: Raman scattering characterization.

Low temperature Raman scattering measurements were carried out to characterize Si on SiO sub 2 structures formed by oxygen implantation and subsequent furnace or lamp annealing. The experiments were conducted with 413.1 nm laser light to probe only the thin Si layers at the top of the structures. The Raman spectra of the furnace annealed samples are red shifted and broadened when compared with a virgin Si surface. The shifts and broadenings decrease with increasing annealing temperatures but they are still present in samples annealed above 1250C for three hours. No shifts or broadenings affect the Raman peaks of the layers which were lamp annealed at 1405C for half an hour. The red shifts indicate that the recrystallized Si layers are under tensile strains, whose origin is attributed to oxide precipitates. Quantitative estimates of the strains and associated stresses are obtained from the measured Raman shifts.