Measurement of strain and strain relaxation in free-standing Si membranes by convergent beam electron diffraction and finite element method

H. Gao, K. Ikeda, S. Hata, H. Nakashima, D. Wang, H. Nakashima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Bridge-shaped free-standing Si membranes (FSSM), strained by low-pressure (LP) SixNy, plasma-enhanced (PE) SixN y and SixGe1-x stressors, were measured by convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) and the finite element method (FEM). The results of CBED show that, while the strain along the length of the FSSM is compressive in an LPSixNy/Si sample, those along the length of the FSSM are tensile in PESixNy/Si and SixGe1-x/Si samples. The average absolute values of strains are different in FSSM with LPSixNy, PESixNy and SixGe1-x as stressors. The FEM was used to compensate the results of CBED taking into account the strain relaxation in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample preparation. The FEM results give the strain properties in three dimensions, and are in good agreement with the results of CBED. There is approximately no strain relaxation along the length of FSSM, and the elastic strains along the other two axes in FSSM are partially relaxed by thinning down for the preparation of TEM samples.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2882-2890
Number of pages9
JournalActa Materialia
Volume59
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Metals and Alloys

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