Influence of Strain on the Conduction Band Structure of Strained Silicon Nanomembranes

Abstract

The influence of in-plane biaxial strain on the conduction bands of Si is explored using elastically strained Si(001) nanomembranes and high-resolution x-ray absorption measurements with electron yield detection. The strain-induced splitting of the conduction band minimum and the energy shifts of two higher conduction bands near L1 and L3 are clearly resolved. The linear increase of the splitting of the conduction band minimum with increasing strain and the nonlinear shift of the L1 point toward the conduction band minimum agree quantitatively with current theories.

Direct-bandgap light-emitting germanium in tensilely strained nanomembranes

“…Ge NMs, which are based on a fabrication technology that has been developed in recent years for a wide range of applications (5)(6)(7)(8)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28), offer another perspective. With this technology, free-standing NMs are produced that can be readily transferred and bonded onto a flexible host substrate and then mechanically stretched.…”

Formation of strain-induced quantum dots in gated semiconductor nanostructures

“…13 For example, a silicon superlattice can be made with periodic strains rather than a heterostructure; 14 this has the advantage of avoiding materials interfaces. Another example is in phosphorus donors in silicon, which are being studied as qubits.…”

Strain Engineering and Luminescence in Si/SiGe Three Dimensional Nanostructures

“…For possible levels of strain seen in the sample, the separation of ∆2 and ∆4 valleys is expected to be smaller than the difference in any 2 PL features seen in the spectra [8][9][10]. A closer examination of spectra in figure 2 also indicates the presence of a weakly peaked embedded PL feature located about 64 meV below the center of the broad 0.988 eV PL feature.…”