X-Ray Characterization of the Lattice Perfection of Heteroepitaxial SIS Structures

The crystallographic structure of semiconductor - insulator - semiconductor (SIS) structures consisting of a Si(111) substrate, Pr2O3 and Y2O3 insulating high-k materials, and Si cap layer was characterized by a combination of X-ray pole figure measurement and conventional X-ray diffraction. Oxide and Si cap layer were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and have the same 111 lattice orientation as the substrate. It is shown that the oxide layers grow in a type B stacking orientation only, while the epi-layer exhibits exclusively the same type A orientation as the substrate. A small fraction of the epi-Si lattice was identified with 511 netplanes parallel to the surface. TEM investigations identify these areas as structural defects between Si grains of differing stacking sequence.