Strain analysis in SiN/Ge microstructures obtained via Si-complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatible approach

We have analyzed the strain distribution and the photoluminescence in Ge microstructures fabricated by means of a Si-CMOS compatible method. The tensile strain in the Ge microstructures is obtained by using a SiN stressor layer. Different shapes of microstructure, allowing the Ge layers to freely expand into one, two, or three dimensions, resulted in different strain distribution profiles. Maximal equivalent biaxial tensile strain values up to similar to 0.8% have been measured. Room temperature photoluminescence emission has been observed and attributed to direct-band gap recombination spectrally shifted by tensile strain. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4772781]