Reliable Local Strain Characterization in Silicon/silicon-germanium Based Electronic Materials System

For the first time, we developed a new approach combined with CBED and finite element (FE) modeling and quantitatively investigated the correlation of the strain in a thin TEM sample with that in the bulk. The new method successfully determined the strain in the strained Si layer on a blanket strained Si/SiGe wafer, in a good agreement with other measurements. The new results also gave some insight in strain relaxation in a TEM sample. We found the [-1,-1,0] strain component which is perpendicular to the TEM sample thinning direction stays the same in the TEM sample and in the bulk, while the [001]) strain component is relaxed because it is along the same direction as the TEM sample thinning direction. This relaxation causes the deformation of the TEM foil and HOLZ line splitting. Therefore a clear CBED pattern can not be obtained from a TEM sample with a biaxial stain state. Our findings from a recessed SiGe PMOS test structure with a uniaxial compressive strain showed a different strain redistribution behavior. The data showed that the epsilonx [-1,1,0] strain is actually more than 20% higher in a TEM sample than in the bulk. The epsilony [-1,-1,0] strain which is parallel to the TEM sample thinning direction turns to tensile in the TEM sample due to the loss of constraints, while it is zero in the bulk. The new results can explain our experimental data and others' (which could not be explained before) and are consistent with UV Raman measurements.