The SiGe layers were grown onto Si-on-insulator substrates and oxidized at 1200 to 1300C to form Si-Ge-on-insulator layers. Strain relaxation of the Si-Ge-on-insulator film was shown to be dislocation mediated and the residual strain scaled with the final Si-Ge-on-insulator thickness in a manner consistent with equilibrium theory. Stacking faults were observed in the relaxed Si-Ge-on-insulator layer and their density increased exponentially with decreasing film thickness. In films below about 500Å, the stacking fault density became comparable with the dislocation density which may be responsible for differences between equilibrium and measured residual strain in thin Si-Ge-on-insulator layers.

Defects and Strain Relaxation in Silicon-Germanium-on-Insulator Formed by High-Temperature Oxidation. S.W.Bedell, K.Fogel, D.K.Sadana, H.Chen: Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 85[24], 5869-71