• O. F. Vyvenko
  • T. Buonassisi
  • A. A. Istratov
  • E. R. Weber
  • M. Kittler
  • W. Seifert

In this study we report application of synchrotron-radiation-based x-ray microprobe techniques (the x-ray-beam-induced current (XBIC) and x-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) methods) to the analysis of the recombination activity and space distribution of copper and iron in the vicinity of dislocations in silicon/silicon-germanium structures. A combination of these two techniques enables one to study the chemical nature of the defects and impurities and their recombination activity in situ and to map metal clusters with a micron-scale resolution. XRF analysis revealed that copper formed clearly distinguishable precipitates along the misfit dislocations. A proportional dependence between the XBIC contrast and the number of copper atoms in the precipitates was established. In hydrogen-passivated iron-contaminated samples we observed clusters of iron precipitates which had no recombination activity detectable by the XBIC technique as well as iron clusters which were not completely passivated.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13079-13086
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Physics Condensed Matter
Volume14
Issue number48
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Dec 2002

    Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics

ID: 87815073