PHOTOLUMINESCENCE OF PSEUDOMORPHIC SIGE FORMED BY GE-74(-IMPLANTATIONIN THE OVERLAYER OF SILICON-ON-INSULATOR MATERIAL() ION)

A metastable SiGe-on-insulator structure is realized by a high-dose Ge -74(+) ion implantation in the overlayer of silicon-on-insulator follo wed by solid phase epitaxial regrowth. Studies of the optical properti es of the germanium-implanted and post-implantation annealed layers wi th 18% peak germanium concentration were carried out using photolumine scence (PL) spectroscopy. The electrical integrity of the strained lay er was qualitatively inferred from the pseudo-mosfet characterization technique. The PL results show that the broadband (BB) emission relate d to,germanium implantation damage can be completely eliminated by pos t-implantation thermal treatment. PL spectra and measured transconduct ance of the sample heat-treated at 500 degrees C indicate conclusively that a defect-free strained Sice layer has been formed. However, samp les heat-treated at higher temperatures show degradation in the charge carrier lifetime, a new BE emission with 0.816 eV peak energy and an emergence of defect related emission at 0.870 eV for samples annealed at and above 900 degrees C. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S 0003-6951(98)04623-3].