Evaluation of the substitutional carbon content in annealed Si/SiGeC superlattices by dark-field electron holography

Si/SiGeC superlattices can be used as core structure for the fabrication of new microelectronic architectures with enhanced electrical properties such as multichannel transistors. The introduction of carbon in SiGe allows for compensation of the compressive strain and to avoid plastic relaxation. However, the formation of incoherent β-SiC clusters during annealing at high temperature limits the processability of SiGeC. This precipitation leads to a strong modification of the stress in the alloy due to the reduction of the substitutional carbon content. Here, we investigated the variation of the substitutional C content in annealed Si/SiGeC superlattices using a comparison of dark-field electron holography and finite element simulations.