Dislocation engineering in SiGe heteroepitaxial films on patterned Si (001) substrates

We demonstrate dislocation engineering without oxide masks. By using finite element simulations we show how nanopatterning of Si substrates with {111} trenches provides anisotropic elastic relaxation in a SiGe film, generates preferential nucleation sites for dislocation loops, and allows for dislocation trapping, leaving wide areas free of threading dislocations. These predictions are confirmed by atomic force and transmission electron microscopy performed on overcritical Si0.7Ge0.3 films. These were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on a Si(001) substrate patterned with periodic arrays of selectively etched {111}-terminated trenches.