SiGe technology: Heteroepitaxy and high-speed microelectronics

We review recent advances in our understanding of the epitaxial growth and properties of SiGe/Si heterostructures for applications in high-speed field-effect transistors. Improvements in computing power and experimental methods have led to new calculations and experiments that reveal the complexity of 60° misfit dislocations and their interactions, which ultimately determine the characteristics of strain-relaxed SiGe films serving as a buffer layer for strained-layer devices. Novel measurements of the microstructure of relaxed SiGe films are discussed. We also present recent work on the epitaxial growth of SiGe/Si heterostructures by ultra-high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition. This growth method not only provides device quality buffer layers, but abrupt, high-concentration phosphorous-doping profiles, and high-mobility S0.20Ge0.80/Ge composite hole channels have also been grown. These achievements enabled the fabrication of outstanding n- and p-channel modulation-doped field-effect transistors that show enormous promise for a variety of applications.