The synthesis of strain-compensated monocrystalline alloy films on Si(100) substrates was achieved for compositions in which Sn and C greatly exceeded their normal equilibrium solubility. Amorphous layers were laid down by solid-source molecular beam deposition, followed by thermal annealing. Monitoring of the crystallization was carried out  in situ  by using time-resolved reflectivity methods. It was found that solid-phase epitaxy of Si0.98Sn0.01C0.01 occurred at a rate which was about 20 times slower than that of pure Si. Compositional and structural analyses, performed using Rutherford back-scattering, electron microprobe, ion channelling, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy, were consistent with the presence of substitutional C and Sn, and of defect-free monocrystalline films.

G.He, M.D.Savellano, H.A.Atwater: Applied Physics Letters, 1994, 65[9], 1159-61