A kinetic model for the strain relaxation in heteroepitaxial thin film systems

摘要

A kinetic model is presented to simulate the strain relaxation in the Ge{sub}xSi{sub}(1-x)/Si(100) systems. In the model, the nucleation, propagation and annihilation of threading dislocations, the interaction between threading dislocations and misfit dislocations, and surface roughness are taken into account. The model reproduces a wide range of experimental results. The implications of its predictions on the threading dislocation reduction during the growth processes of the heteoepitaxial thin film systems are discussed.