The quality of annealed Si0.86Ge0.14 films which had been grown onto thin bond etch-back Si-on-insulator wafers was investigated by using photoluminescence and X-ray diffraction techniques. Evidence was presented for the relaxation of these layers under conditions which resulted in a higher film quality than for the same layers when grown onto bulk Si. The suggested mechanism which led to a reduced dislocation density was viscous flow of the buried SiO2 layer. This permitted strain in the Si0.86Ge0.14 layers to be relaxed by the introduction of dislocations; mainly into the thin Si layer.

M.O.Tanner, M.A.Chu, K.L.Wang, M.Meshkinpour, M.S.Goorsky: Journal of Crystal Growth, 1995, 157[1-4], 121-5