Damage removal and strain relaxation in As+-implanted Si0.57Ge0.43 epilayers grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy

The damage removal and strain relaxation in the As+-implanted Si0.57Ge0.43 epilayers were studied by double-crystal x-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy. The results presented in this paper indicate that rapid thermal annealing at temperatures higher than 950 degrees C results in complete removal of irradiation damage accompained by the formation of GeAs precipitates which enhance the removal process of dislocations.