Quantum-dot growth simulation on periodic stress of substrate

InAs quantum dots (QDs) are grown on the cleaved edge of an InxGa1-xAs/GaAs supperlattice experimentally and a good linear alignment of these QDs on the surface of an InxGa1-xAs layer has been realized. The modulation effects of periodic strain on the substrate are investigated theoretically using a kinetic Monte Carlo method. Our results show that a good alignment of QDs can be achieved when the strain energy reaches 2% of the atomic binding energy. The simulation results are in excellent qualitative agreement with our experiments. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Depth distribution of the strain in the GaN layer with low-temperature AlN interlayer on Si(111) substrate studied by Rutherford backscattering/channeling

The depth distribution of the strain-related tetragonal distortion e(T) in the GaN epilayer with low-temperature AlN interlayer (LT-AlN IL) on Si(111) substrate is investigated by Rutherford backscattering and channeling. The samples with the LT-AlN IL of 8 and 16 nm thickness are studied, which are also compared with the sample without the LT-AlN IL. For the sample with 16-nm-thick LT-AlN IL, it is found that there exists a step-down of e(T) of about 0.1% in the strain distribution. Meanwhile, the angular scan around the normal GaN <0001> axis shows a tilt difference about 0.01degrees between the two parts of GaN separated by the LT-AlN IL, which means that these two GaN layers are partially decoupled by the AlN interlayer. However, for the sample with 8-nm-thick LT-AlN IL, neither step-down of e(T) nor the decoupling phenomenon is found. The 0.01degrees decoupled angle in the sample with 16-nm-thick LT-AlN IL confirms the relaxation of the LT-AlN IL. Thus the step-down of e(T) should result from the compressive strain compensation brought by the relaxed AlN interlayer. It is concluded that the strain compensation effect will occur only when the thickness of the LT-AlN IL is beyond a critical thickness. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Influence of AlN thickness on strain evolution of GaN layer grown on high-temperature AlN interlayer

The strain evolution of a GaN layer grown on a high- temperature AlN interlayer with varying AlN thickness by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition is investigated. In the growth process, the growth strain changes from compression to tension in the top GaN layer, and the thickness at which the compressive- to- tensile strain transition takes place is strongly influenced by the thickness of the AlN interlayer. It is confirmed from the x- ray diffraction results that the AlN interlayer has a remarkable effect on introducing relative compressive strain to the top GaN layer. The strain transition process during the growth of the top GaN layer can be explained by the threading dislocation inclination in the top GaN layer. Adjusting the AlN interlayer thickness could change the density of the threading dislocations in the top GaN layer and then change the stress evolution during the top GaN layer's growth.

Influence of the AlN interlayer crystal quality on the strain evolution of GaN layer grown on Si (111)

The strain evolution in metal organic chemical vapor deposition growth of GaN on Si (111) substrate with an AlN interlayer is studied. During the growth of GaN film on AlN interlayer, the growth stress changes from compression to tension. The study shows that the density of V trenches in the AlN interlayer surface and the threading dislocations generated in the AlN interlayer have a significant influence on this strain evolution process. The dislocations generated in AlN interlayer may thread across the interface and play a key role in the strain evolution process of the GaN layer grown on AlN interlayer.

Strain-induced in-plane optical anisotropy in (001) GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice studied by reflectance difference spectroscopy

In-plane optical anisotropy (IPOA) in (001) GaAs/AlGaAs superlattice induced by uniaxial strain has been investigated by reflectance difference spectroscopy (RDS). Uniaxial strain on the order of 10(-4) was introduced by bending a strip sample with a stress apparatus. The IPOA of all interband transitions shows a linear dependence on strain. The birefringence and dichroism spectra induced by strain are obtained by RDS on the basis of a three-phase model, which is in good agreement with the reported results. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Strain evolution in GaN layers grown on high-temperature AlN interlayers

The strain evolution of the GaN layer grown on a high-temperature AlN interlayer with GaN template by metal organic chemical vapor deposition is investigated. It is found that the layer is initially under compressive strain and then gradually relaxes and transforms to under tensile strain with increasing film thickness. The result of the in situ stress analysis is confirmed by x-ray diffraction measurements. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the inclination of edge and mixed threading dislocations rather than the reduction of dislocation density mainly accounts for such a strain evolution. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Strain analysis of InP/InGaAsP wafer bonded on Si by X-ray double crystalline diffraction

Wafer bonding between p-Si and an n-InP-based InGaAsP multiple quantum well (MQW) wafer was achieved by a direct wafer bonding method. In order to investigate the strain at different annealing temperatures, four pre-bonded pairs were selected, and pair one was annealed at 150 degrees C, pair two at 250 degrees C, pair three at 350 degrees C, and pair four at 450 degrees C, respectively. The macroscopical strains on the bonded epitaxial layer include two parts, namely the internal strain and the strain caused by the mismatching of the crystalline orientation between InP (100) and Si (100). These strains were measured by the X-ray double crystalline diffraction, and theoretical calculations of the longitudinal and perpendicular thermal strains at different annealing temperatures were calculated using the bi-metal thermostats model, both the internal strain and the thermal strain increase with the annealing temperature. Normal thermal stress and the elastic biaxial thermal strain energy were also calculated using this model. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermal stress analysis for GaInAsP multiple quantum well wafer chemically bonded to Si (100)

An n-InP-based InGaAsP multiple-quantum-well wafer was bonded with p-Si by chemical surface activated bonding at 70 degrees C, and then annealed at 450 degrees C. Different thermal expansion coefficients between InP and Si will induce thermal stresses in the bonded wafer. Planar and cross-sectional distributions of thermal stress in the bonded InP-Si pairs were analyzed by a two-dimensional finite element method. In addition, the normal, peeling, and shear stresses were calculated by an analytic method. Furthermore, x-ray double crystalline diffraction was applied to measure the thermal strain and the strain caused by the mismatching of the crystalline orientation between InP (100) and Si (100). The wavelength redshift of the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum due to thermal strain was investigated via the calculation of the band structure, which is in agreement with the measured PL spectra.

Influence of dislocation stress field on distribution of quantum dots

InAs quantum dots (QDs) were grown on In0.15Ga0.85As strained layers by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (0 0 1) substrates. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy study have indicated that In0.15Ga0.85As ridges and InAs QDs formed at the inclined upside of interface misfit dislocations (MDs). By testifying the MDs are mixed 60 degrees dislocations and calculating the surface stress over them when they are 12-180 nm below the surface, we found the QDs prefer nucleating on the side with tensile stress of the MDs and this explained why the ordering of QDs is weak when the InGaAs layer is relatively thick. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Stress and its effect on optical properties of GaN epilayers grown on Si(111), 6H-SiC(0001), and c-plane sapphire

The stress states in unintentionally doped GaN epilayers grown on Si(111), 6H-SiC(0001), and c-plane sapphire, and their effects on optical properties of GaN films were investigated by means of room-temperature confocal micro-Raman scattering and photoluminescence techniques. Relatively large tensile stress exists in GaN epilayers grown on Si and 6H-SiC while a small compressive stress appears in the film grown on sapphire. The latter indicates effective strain relaxation in the GaN buffer layer inserted in the GaN/sapphire sample, while the 50-nm-thick AlN buffer adopted in the GaN/Si sample remains highly strained. The analysis shows that the thermal mismatch between the epilayers and the substrates plays a major role in determining the residual strain in the films. Finally, a linear coefficient of 21.1+/-3.2 meV/GPa characterizing the relationship between the luminescent bandgap and the biaxial stress of the GaN films is obtained. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Stress corrosion studies of ion implanted austenitic steel

Stress corrosion studies of 50 Mn18Cr4 austenitic steel implanted with 120 keV N+, 100 keV Cr+, 200 keV and 400 keV Er+ ions were carried out by constant strain method in the nitrate solution. Surface composition and depth profiles of the implanted material were measured by AES sputter etching technique. The results exhibit that nitrogen implantation has no significant affection to the stress corrosion, but the chromium and erbium implantation has prolonged the incubation period of the stress corrosion cracking. (C) 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Effect of Silicon-on-Insulator Substrate on Residual Strain in 3C-SiC Films

One group of SiC films are grown on silicon-on-insulator （SOI） substrates with a series of silicon-overlayer thickness. Raman scattering spectroscopy measurement clearly indicates that a systematic trend of residual stress reduction as the silicon over-layer thickness decreases for the SOI substrates. Strain relaxation in the SiC epilayer is explained by force balance approach and near coincidence lattice model.

Elastic Strain Field Distribution of a Self-Organized Growth Lensed-Shaped Quantum Dot by Finite Element Method

The stress and strain fields in self-organized growth coherent quantum dots (QD) structures are investigated in detail by two-dimension and three-dimension finite element analyses for lensed-shaped QDs. The nonobjective isolate quantum dot system is used. The calculated results can be directly used to evaluate the conductive band and valence band confinement potential and strain introduced by the effective mass of the charge carriers in strain QD.

Spin splitting modulated by uniaxial stress in InAs nanowires

We theoretically study the electronic structure, spin splitting, effective mass, and spin orientation of InAs nanowires with cylindrical symmetry in the presence of an external electric field and uniaxial stress. Using an eight-band k center dot p theoretical model, we deduce a formula for the spin splitting in the system, indicating that the spin splitting under uniaxial stress is a nonlinear function of the momentum and the electric field. The spin splitting can be described by a linear Rashba model when the wavevector and the electric field are sufficiently small. Our numeric results show that the uniaxial stress can modulate the spin splitting. With the increase of wavevector, the uniaxial tensile stress first restrains and then amplifies the spin splitting of the lowest electron state compared to the no strain case. The reverse is true under a compression. Moreover, strong spin splitting can be induced by compression when the top of the valence band is close to the bottom of the conductance band, and the spin orientations of the electron stay almost unchanged before the overlap of the two bands.

Strain gradient theory based on a new framework of non-local model

A new framework of non-local model for the strain energy density is proposed in this paper. The global strain energy density of the representative volume element is treated as a non-local variable and can be obtained through a special integral of the local strain energy density. The local strain energy density is assumed to be dependent on both the strain and the rotation-gradient. As a result of the non-local model, a new strain gradient theory is derived directly, in which the first and second strain gradients, as well as the triadic and tetradic stress, are introduced in the context of work conjugate. For power law hardening materials, size effects in thin metallic wire torsion and ultra-thin cantilever beam bend are investigated. It is found that the result predicted by the theoretical model is well consistent with the experimental data for the thin wire torsion. On the other hand, the calculation result for the micro-cantilever beam bend clearly shows the size effect.