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Infrared nanoscopy of strained semiconductors

Nature Nanotechnology volume 4, pages 153–157 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Knowledge about strain at the nanometre scale is essential for tailoring the mechanical and electronic properties of materials. Flaws, cracks and their local strain fields can be detrimental to the structural integrity of many solids1,2. Conversely, the controlled straining of silicon can be used to improve the performance of electronic devices3,4,5. Here, we demonstrate that infrared near-field microscopy6 allows direct, non-invasive mapping and a semiquantitative analysis of residual strain fields in polar semiconductor crystals with nanometre-scale resolution. Our experiments with silicon carbide crystals yield optical images of nanoindents showing strain features as small as 50 nm and the evolution of nanocracks. In addition, by imaging nanoindents in doped silicon, we provide experimental evidence for plasmon-assisted near-field imaging of free-carrier properties in nanoscale strain fields. Near-field infrared strain mapping provides possibilities for nanoscale material and device characterization, and could become a tool for nanoscale mapping of the local free-carrier mobility in strain-engineered semiconductors.

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Figure 1: Nanoscale optical strain mapping by near-field IR phonon–polariton spectroscopy.
Figure 2: s-SNOM images of nanoindents in an epitactically grown SiC crystal.
Figure 3: Plasmon-assisted free-carrier mapping in strained silicon.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank IKZ Berlin for providing SiC, NOVASiC (France) for SiC surface polishing, and N. Ocelic, F. Keilmann, J. Plitzko (all Martinsried) and M. Stutzmann (TU Munich) for stimulating discussions. Supported by the Deutsches Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) grant no. 03N8705 and the Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanooptics Laboratory, CIC nanoGUNE Consolider, Donostia-San Sebastian, 20018, Spain

    A. J. Huber & R. Hillenbrand

  2. Nano-Photonics Group, Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, Martinsried, München, and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), 82152, Germany

    A. J. Huber & R. Hillenbrand

  3. Molekulare Strukturbiologie, Max-Planck-Institut für Biochemie, Martinsried, München, 82152, Germany

    A. Ziegler

  4. Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching, München, 85748, Germany

    T. Köck

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  1. A. J. Huber
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  2. A. Ziegler
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  4. R. Hillenbrand
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Contributions

A.J.H., A.Z. and R.H. conceived and designed the experiments. A.J.H. performed the s-SNOM experiments and A.J.H., A.Z. and R.H. analysed the data. T.K. performed the indentation experiments. A.J.H., A.Z. and R.H. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. Hillenbrand.

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Huber, A., Ziegler, A., Köck, T. et al. Infrared nanoscopy of strained semiconductors. Nature Nanotech 4, 153–157 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.399

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