Nanoindentation analysis of the pop-in events on SiGe single layer Original Research Article

The growth of metastable silicon germanium (Si0.8Ge0.2) thin film on Si(1 0 0) by ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition has been subjected to residual indentation studies. A nanoindentation system has been applied to analyze SiGe film after different annealing treatments. A number of phenomena have been found for the heteroepitaxial growth of SiGe film at the critical thickness of 350 nm, including single discontinuity (the so-called “pop-in” event) as well as the elastic/plastic contact translation. Atomic force microscopy is employed to investigate the surface impression. Pop-in events in the load-indentation depth curves of 400 and 500 °C and no nano-cracks in the vicinity regions are found. The values of H ranging from 13.13±0.9, 21.66±1.3, 18.52±1.1, 14.47±0.7 GPa and the values of E ranging from 221.8±5.3, 230.7±6.4, 223.5±4.6, 156.7±3.8 GPa, are obtained. The elastic/plastic contact translation of the SiGe film occurs at different annealing conditions, with hf/hmax values in the range of 0.501, 0.392, 0.424, and 0.535 for samples are treated at RT, 400, 500, and 600 °C, respectively. The mechanism responsible for the pop-in event in such crystal structure is due to the interaction of the indenter tip with the pre-existing threading dislocations, since the release of the indentation load is bound to be reflected in the directly compressed volume.