Electron beam induced damage of silicon germanium

Paul, D. J. , Ryan, J. M., Pepper, M., Broers, A. N., Whall, T. W., Fernandez, J. M. and Joyce, B. A. (1996) Electron beam induced damage of silicon germanium. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, 14(6), pp. 3834-3838. (doi: 10.1116/1.588677)

Abstract

The effect of electron beam irradiation damage to pseudomorphic modulation‐doped SiGe two dimensional hole gas (2DHG) was investigated. For typical poly(methylmethacrylate) type processes with electron energies of 40 keV and doses of 2 C/m2, the material properties were not significantly altered. For 300 keV irradiated electrons, the resistivity of the material increased as the dose of electrons was increased. For 100 keV and higher electron irradiation energies, the material became more resistive as the irradiation energy was increased. The 2DHG material became highly resistive at low temperatures and froze out at between 20 and 30 K. Annealing at 400 °C to 500 °C on 40 keV samples with 2 C/m2 doses could return the resistivity of the material at 300 K to the non‐irradiated value, but the large increase in resistivity for annealing temperatures above 500 °C suggests that the irradiation produced a significant number of defects which accelerated the relaxation of the strained Si0.87Ge0.13 channel by thermal processing. A number of narrow channel devices were fabricated in high mobility modulation‐doped Si/SiGe two dimensional electron gas material and investigated at 4.2 K using the electron beam irradiation to locally damage material into an insulting state. Fluctuations were found in a number of devices with patterned widths below 0.5 μm.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The work in this article was supported by EPSRC. One of the authors (J.M.F.) wishes to acknowledge financial support through a European Union Human Capital and Mobility Fellowship.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Paul, Professor Douglas
• Authors: Paul, D. J., Ryan, J. M., Pepper, M., Broers, A. N., Whall, T. W., Fernandez, J. M., and Joyce, B. A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Research Group: Semiconductor Devices
• Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics
• ISSN: 2166-2746
• ISSN (Online): 2166-2754