Low temperature chemical vapor deposition of Si-based compounds via SiH3SiH2SiH3: Metastable SiSn∕GeSn∕Si(100) heteroepitaxial structures

Growth of Si1−xSnx alloys on Ge1−ySny-buffered Si(100) was achieved via reactions of SnD4 and SiH3SiH2SiH3 at 275°C. Kinetic studies indicate that unprecedented low growth temperatures are made possible by the highly reactive SiH2 groups. The authors obtain supersaturated metastable compositions (y∼25%) near the indirect to direct band gap crossover predicted by first principles simulations. Extensive characterizations of composition, structure, and morphology show that the SiSn∕GeSn films grow lattice matched via a “compositional pinning” mechanism. The initial Raman observations of Si–Sn bond vibrations in a condensed phase are discussed in the context of simulated bond distributions in the alloys.