A phenomenological mean-field theory was proposed for the kinetics of strain relaxation due to misfit dislocation generation in the strained-layer growth of epitaxial semiconductor films on thin compliant substrates. The theory provided a generalized dislocation kinetic framework by coupling the mechanics, of an epitaxial film on a compliant substrate, to a description of plastic deformation dynamics in semiconductor crystals. The theoretical results successfully reproduced experimental data on strain relaxation in the InAs/GaAs(110) system.

Kinetics of strain relaxation by misfit dislocation formation in the growth of epitaxial films on compliant substrates D.Maroudas, L.A.Zepeda-Ruiz, W.H.Weinberg: Applied Physics Letters, 1998, 73[6], 753-5