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Atomic structure of grain boundaries in semiconductors
A. Bourret, J.J. Bacmann
To cite this version:
A. Bourret, J.J. Bacmann. Atomic structure of grain boundaries in semiconductors. Re- vue de Physique Appliquée, Société française de physique / EDP, 1987, 22 (7), pp.563-568.
�10.1051/rphysap:01987002207056300�. �jpa-00245577�
Atomic structure of grain boundaries in semiconductors
A. Bourret and J. J. Bacmann
(+)
IRF, DRF, Service de
Physique, Groupe Structures,
(+)
IRDI,DMECN, Département
deMétallurgie,
SRM, CENGrenoble,
85 X, 38041 GrenobleCedex,
France
(Reçu
le 10 octobre 1986,accepté
le 12janvier 1987)
Résumé. 2014 Cet article résume l’ensemble des observations en
microscopie électronique (haute résolution,
diffraction et
franges-03B1)
sur les bicristaux degermanium.
Les structures observées sont totalementisomorphes
à celles
qui
existent dans le silicium. Elles tendent à former des arrangements bidimensionnelspériodiques
surlesquels
se superposent éventuellement des défauts linéaires. Sur lesjoints
de flexion011>
il a été montréque l’environnement des atomes reste
toujours tetraédrique
par reconstruction des liaisonspendantes.
L’activité
électrique éventuelle
de cesjoints
ne peut donc venir que de défautsponctuels (intrinsèques
ouimpuretés).
Abstract. 2014 This paper summarizes the electron
microscope
observations(high
resolution, diffraction and 03B1-fringes)
ongermanium bicrystals.
Observed structures were foundisomorphous
to those of silicon.They
tendto form a
2D-periodic
medium witheventually
additional linear defects. In pure tilt011> grain
boundariesthe tetrahedral coordination is
always
restoredby dangling
bond reconstruction. The electricalactivity
of suchgrain
boundaries can thereforeonly
be due topoint
defects(intrinsic
defects orimpurities).
Classification
Physics
Abstracts61.70N - 61.16D
1. Introduction.
The structure of
special
coincidence twins in semiconductors has been for several yearssubject
toexpérimental
and theoretical studies[1-4].
Inparticu-
lar a combination of
high
resolution electron mi- croscopy(HREM)
with electron diffraction and a-fringes
method on~011~
pure tiltgrain
boundaries(GB),
has allowed the determination of atomic structures which are often different from the oneoriginally proposed by
Hornstra[5]
orby
Môller[6].
The
only exceptions
are theparticularly simple
case(111) 03A3 = 3 and (122) 03A3 = 9 for
which thepredicted
structures were confirmed
[4].
This paper reviews the results obtained for morecomplicated
GBs andsummarizes several papers
already published by
theGrenoble groups
working
in the framework of the« ARC silicium
polycristallin
».Apart
from the exact coincidence twins it is alsointeresting
tostudy
whathappens
forincommensur-
ate GB interfaces. Small
departure
either from the exact coincidenceangle
or from the exactsymmetry
interface will introduce defects such as
grain
bound-ary dislocations
(GBDs)
orsteps.
Theknowledge
ofthe
defect configuration
is thus one of theimportant key
to build moregeneral
GB structures. These defects werethought
to beresponsible
for theelectrical
activity
of GBs and it isimportant
to knowif this idea can be
supported by
the atomic arrange-ment.
2.
Expérimental procedure.
Germanium bulk
bicrystals
were grownusing
theCzochralski method under
hydrogen atmosphere.
The
starting
material isundoped germanium (50 flcm).
Two initial seeds arecarefully
machinedand
positionned using X-rays
so that the orientation is as close aspossible
to the ideal coincidence(accuracy :
few0.01°).
Thebicrystal growth
is notalways
successful : inparticular
very low index andhigh
coincidence(111) 03A3
= 3 and(122) 03A3
= 9 arenot
produced by
thismethod,
but from anaturally
twin
crystal
used as a seed. Intermediate03A3-values
such as(233) 03A3
= 11 areeasily
obtainedby
thismethod. In the case of a
high
energy GB as(211) 03A3
= 3 instabilities tend to appear : the GB isArticle published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/rphysap:01987002207056300
564
then
only
stable for[011 ] crystal growth
and the GBis not able to
expand laterally
withoutsplitting
intoseveral others GB. The reaction :
is
commonly
observed on one side. The{255}
03A3
= 27portion
was extracted from such amultiply
twin
crystal
and studied.Similarly {144} 03A3
= 33 hasbeen extracted from the
splitting
of a{233}
03A3
= 11. The GBsgeometrical
characteristics aregiven
in table 1.Thin slices are cut from the
bicrystals (or multiply
twin
crystals)
in theappropriate orientation,
thinnedby
ionmilling
and observedby
HREM at 200keV.
Two classes of
complementary experiments
can thenbe
performed :
i) High
energy electron diffraction(HEED).
ii) Imaging
mode : conventional or HREM mode.By combining
HEED andHREM,
the 2D sym-metry
group can then be determinedunambiguously.
Computer
simulations are often necessary in order to deduce the atomic structures of the GBs : with thepresent
resolution limit of the order of 0.22 nm the diamond structure appearsalong [011]
as a fcclattice. Therefore the atomic model should be
build
using
carefulcomparison
betweenexperimental
andsimulated
images.
3.
Study
of(255) 03A3
= 27.The HEED data from
(255) 03A3
= 27 is very difficultto
interpret :
this is due to thelarge
unit cell of the 2D relaxations(see below) giving
alarge
number ofdiffraction
spots
of very lowintensity
and moreoverto the
high defect
content of this GB.Thus, the only
available
information
comes from HREMimages projected along [011 ].
The observedperiodicity
inthe
[511]
direction is the onegiven by
the coinci- dence lattice(CL)
i.e. 2.83 nm(Fig. la).
This resultwas
already
obtained in silicon[7] showing
oncemore that defect structures are
isomorphous
in Siand Ge. The GB can be described as successive facets
along {110} planes
with a widthsuccessively
close to 4
do
and 3 ao(do
=1/4 (211) ao
and ao latticeparameter).
These facets areorganized
onboth
Fig.
1. -a)
HREMimage
of a(255) 03A3
= 27 observedalong
the[011]
common axis inGe-200 kV ; bright
tunnels. The 7
atom-rings
of the structure are visible aslarge bright
spots.b)
Atomic model of(255) 03A3
= 27 asdeduced from HREM. This model is identical to the one
proposed by
Vaudin et al.[7]
and contains Lomer(L)
units(7
and 5-atomrings).
halves so that
a {110}I facet
isfacing a {111}II
facet[8].
The atomic model
proposed by
Vaudin et al.[7]
gives
anearly
correctrepresentation
of the HREMimages.
This model(Fig. 1b)
contains successive elements of(122) 03A3
= 9GB,
or L-unit with 5 and 7 atomrings, separated by
oneperfect
chairshaped
sixmembered
ring symbolized
hereafterby
u. Thesequence is :
LL’
u(LL’)’
where thesymbol ’
denotes a mirrorglide symmetry operation.
The 7 atomsrings
areparticularly
well visiblewhen
tunnels in the structureare white on HREM
images.
Their location corre-sponds
to the atomic model andthey
areapproxi- mately
situated at mirrorglide symmetry
related sites.Indeed this model
implies
acomplete
mirrorglide
symmetry
and there are no exact atomiccoincidence
sites. The associatedrigid body
translation(RBT)
should then be
equal
to t = 1/54[511 ].
It has notyet
beenpossible
toverify
this conclusion : the RBT should be measured on(511) planes for
which thelattice
spacing
is small. t isequal
to 0.027 nm andvery close to the accuracy limit of HREM
images.
On the
other
hand thea-fringes
method isdifficult
to
interpret
because of thelarge
defectdensity.
A
large density
of linear defects of the order of 0.5to 1 x
107 m-1
ispresent along
the[011 ]
axis in theGB
plane.
Twotypes
are foundi)
pure coherentsteps (30 %)
andii) steps
associated with dislocation(70 %).
The pure coherent
steps
as well assteps
associated with GBD have a very well defined structure(Fig. 2). They
arecomposed
of a smallmicrocrystal
in twin orientation with one of the two
crystals.
Thusthe
(255) 03A3
= 27 issplit following
the reaction :The
length
oft4e splitting
isproportional
to thestep height.
At the end of themicrocrystal
a small surfaceof incoherent
(111)I 03A3
= 9 is formed. An atomicmodel of the reaction
(2)
is easy to build withprogressive adjonction
of T-units(boat shaped
sixatoms
ring).
Acomplete
atomic structure of acoherent
step
is then available from HREM results(Fig. 2b) :
itsimportant
feature is the appearance of difficult reconstruction scheme with a shearalong
Fig.
2. -a)
Coherent step in(255) 03A3
= 27. This step is in fact formedby
a smallmicrocrystal
limitedby
a(111 )
2 = 3 and a
(122) JS
= 9 and a very smallportion
of(111) 03A3 = 9.
Ge-200 kV.Bright
tunnels.b) Atomic
model of the smallest coherent step in
(235) X
= 27. Notethe two reconstructions
Dl
andDl
+ S.[011 ]
andsymbolized by Dl
+ S(double periodicity plus shear).
The GBDs are all of the same
type
and of thesame
sign :
pureedge
andincreasing
the misorienta- tionangle.
Thereforethey
aresecondary
dislocations with b = 1/54[255 ]
and the atomic model is verysimple.
A smallportion
visible on HREMpicture consisting
of 3 consecutive Lomertype
structuralunits,
introduces atypical
= 9configuration. The surprising
fact that GBDs arenearly always
as-sociated with a
large step (and
amicrocrystal)
showsthat there is an attraction between GBDs and
steps.
4.
Study
of(233) 03A3
= 11.(233) 03A3
= 11 when observed close to the[233 ]
normal incidence
gives
clear diffractionpattern [9].
Extra matrix
spots
are identified in the233 pole giving
anapparent
cell 1/2[011] ; [311].
Howeverout of the
233 pole
the fine GBspots
are twice asnumerous and
give
a trueperiodicity
1/2[011] ;
2
[311 ].
Theperiod
is thus twicethe
CLperiodicity
and is
reduced by
half whenprojected
on the GB.plane.
As a consequencethe X
= 11bicrystal
space group ispmc’ 2i
where c’ is the(233)
mirrorglide plane.
The HREM observationsclearly
confirm the,previous
result(Fig. 3).
There is a totalperiod along
the GB
plane equal
to 3.75 nm(twice
theCL)
with aclear mirror
glide symmetry operation.
The RBTmeasurement
using
thea-fringes
methodgives
nodisplacement
of the(311) planes
and a smalldilata-
tion normal to the GB
plane. Similarly
HREMimages give
a dilatationequal
to ~ 0.04 nm and the(311 ) planes
arealigned
within the accuracy limit(0.025 nm).
As a conclusion the GBplane
has aFig.
3. -a)
HREMimage
of a(233) 03A3
= 11 observedalong
the[011 ] common
axis in Ge-200 kV.Bright
tunnels.The 7
atom-rings
of the structure are visible aslarge bright
spots. The mirrorglide
symmetryoperation
isdirectly
visible.
b)
Atomic model of(233) 03A3
= 11, as deduced from HREMimage.
This model contains L unit and Twin(T)
unit, in addition with a new unit tincluding
5 and 7rings.
566
(2 x 1 ) superstructure
after relaxationsimilarly
towhat
happens
atclean {111}
surfaces.Several models
compatible
with the observed[622] period
wereproposed by Papon
et al.[9].
However
they
are notcompatible
with the HREM observations and a new model has beenrecently proposed [10].
In this model(Fig. 3b)
thesuccession
of structural units is the
following :
LtLTL’ t’ L’T
where t is a new unit
including
5 and 7 atomrings.
This succession
incorporates
notonly
elements from the(122) 03A3
= 9 and from(111) JS
= 3 but also anew element t which was
proposed by Hornstra [5].
The
density
of linear defects in(233) 03A3
= 11 isrelatively
low 0.2-0.5 x107 m-1. Usually they
arenot associated with
steps although
asingle step
is sometimes observed[10]. They
allgive
a zeroBurgers
vectorcomponent
on the(011) plane.
However a
large
contrast variation of the atomic columns with a dark coreregion suggests
the pre-sence of a
large
shear strainparallel
to the observa- tions axis. Therefore these defects should be as-sociated to screw 1/2
[011 ] dislocations :
such GBDsgive
nostep
and no visiblediscontinuity
whenobserved
along [011].
The
splitting
of(233) 03A3
= 11 into two other GBsoccurs
frequently
even at amacroscopic
scale. The reaction is thefollowing :
5.
Study
of(21i) X
= 3.On a
(211) 03A3
=3,
HEED exhibits varioussuperlat-
tice
spots. Firstly
there arespots corresponding
tothe CL
periodicity,
but additionalspots
show thatthe GB
plane
has a cmplanar symmetry.
The unit cell is twice aslarge
as the CL in two directions. Theperiod
is[011 ]
x 2[111 ].
The
a-fringes
method on Si as well as on Gegives
a
large RBT [11,12] along (111)
and a smalldilatation
component.
HREM confirms the
c (2
x2) superstructure [13].
The
apparent periodicity
when observedalong [011]
axis is
only [111 ] (Fig. 4a).
However when observedalong
the[231]
axis a clear doubleperiodicity
isvisible with a 0.74 nm
repeat
distance in accordance with the space group and the unit cell[011]
x 2[111].
The RBT is also measured to be : t = 1/11[111]+1120 [211].
Several atomic models of the
(211) 03A3 = 3
insemiconductors have been
proposed :
none of themFig.
4. -a)
HREMimage
of a(211) 03A3
= 3 observedalong
the[011] ]
common axis in Ge-200 keV.Bright
atoms. Note the
large rigid body
translation(RBT) directly
visible on 111planes. b)
Atomic model of the(211) 03A3 =
3 asprojected along
the[011 ] common
axis.Pair bonds are reconstructed at
Ra
andRII2’ c)
Side viewof the GB
plane
of the(211) 03A3
= 3showing
the recon-struction scheme
along
011 atomic rows.are
compatible
with thec(2
x2) superstructure.
Papon
and Petit[14] recently proposed
acompletely
new one,
compatible
with both thesymmetry
and the HREMimages.
The structure(Fig. 4b)
containsa very
asymmetric arrangement
with apair
ofreconstructed bonds
along
the[011]
common axis.The
reconstruction, Dl,
doubles theperiodicity along [011]
and is similar to the oneproposed
forreconstructed 30°
partial
dislocations[15].
The suc-cessive reconstructed rows are shifted
by
1/2[011]
forming
the centredpattern
anddoubling
theperiod- icity
in two directions.The successive structural units are then :
(TT)
associated with
L, Ro,
TT associated withL, Rin
where R is a new unitcontaining
five andeight
atoms
rings
as seen fromthe [211 ]
direction(Fig. 4c).
The
density
of linear defects in(211) 03A3
= 3 isequal
to 0.5 to 2 x107 m-1.
These defects arecharacterized
by
theirvariety.
At least four differenttypes
can bedistinguished [16]. i)
Coherentsteps
not associated with
GBD ; ii)
1/6(211 )
pureedge
or 30° GBD with
steps ; iii) 1/2 (110) edge
or 60°including
achange
inRBT ; iv) microcrystal
for-mation.
6.
Study
of(111)II 03A3
= 9.The incoherent
(111)II 03A3
= 9 has a verycomplex
nature
(Fig. 5a).
Thereis
a stair-caseshape with
successive microfacets
along
the 111planes
of eithercrystal
1 orII,
thuscreating
aperiodic triangular shape microcrystals.
Thesemicrocrystals
have threedifferent facets :
two {111} 03A3
= 3 andone {522}
Fig.
5. -a)
HREM of an incoherent(111) 03A3 = 9.
Notethe stairs formed
by
successivemicrocrystals. b)
Atomicmodel of
a).
Note thelarge
number of reconstructionalong [011 ] in the {522} 03A3
= 3portion.
03A3
= 3. Theperiodicity
of such anarrangement
isequal
to 1/2[255 ]
asgiven by the 2
= 9coincidence
lattice. The atomic structure of such an incoherent GBincorporates already
known elements as the T- units orL-units,
and the7+ - 5
unit(Fig. 5b).
Theresult is a
complex, although periodic, 3D,
arrange-ment
giving
a GB « thickness » of 1.3 nm.7. Discussion and conclusion.
The
important points
of thepresent experimental
results concern :
i)
thevariety
of new structuralunits discovered in
periodic
GBs as well as in defects’ : however there are nodangling
bonds in any case ;ii) the possibility
for ahigh
energy GB to besplitted
into lower energyparts forming microcrys- tals ; iii)
the defect content which increases with GB energy.New structural
units,
results from new reconstruc- tion scheme.Up
to nowonly
reconstruction in the(011) plane
wasconsidered
in pure tilt[011] GB.
For
symmetrical
GBs and misorientationangle, 0,
up to
70.53°
this wasenough
toexplain
any GB structureby mixing
threeparticular
units[7] :
- the
perfect chair-shaped
6 atomring,
- the 5 and 7 atom
rings. (L-unit)
characteristic of a Lomerdislocation,
- the
boat-shaped
6atom-ring (T-unit).
Although
exact, thismixing
rule ofsimple
structur-al
units,
iscomplicated by
the fact that the exactdistribution cannot be
predicted
frompurely
geo- metrical models. Thereis,
ingeneral,
atendency
forintroducing
a mirrorglide symmetry explaining
thatsuperstructure
may well be favored(see
for instance2 = 11).
Forlarger misorientation angle
or forasymmetrical
GB reconstructionalong
the[011]
common axis should be considered. A
priori
fourreconstruction schemes could occur as
described
in[10]. Secondary
dislocationsintroduced by
smallREVUE DE PHYSIQUE APPLIQUÉE. - T. 22, N’ 7, JUILLET 1987
deviation from a
high
coincidence GB wereproposed
to be formed
by incorporation
of structural units of the closesthigh
coincidenceposition [17].
This istrue for small
angle
GBas X
= 27. However forlarger angle
thissimple
idea is notnecessarily
valid.For instance it was
shown,
that a 1/3[111]
GBD in(111) 03A3
= 3 whichdecreases 0,
does notincorporate
elements of the closest twin i.e.
(233) 03A3
= 11.Similarly
the modelpresented
for a 1/6[211]
GBDin
(211) 03A3
=3,
whichincreases 0,
does notincorpo-
rate elements of the
(411) 03A3
= 9. For this latertwin,
with 0 =
141.060,
a model isproposed by Papon
andPetit [14]
and contains aD2 reconstruction,
notencountered in the 1/6
[211 ]
GBD model.The
splitting
ofhigh
energygrain boundary
intoparts
of lower energy is rathergeneral.
For instancethe reaction
is
commonly
observed at amacroscopic
scaleduring crystal growth
as well as several other reactionsreported
in this paper. These reactions mayhelp
inclassifying
the GBenergies.
For instance if oneassumes that a
splitting
couldonly
occur if it isenergetically favorable,
the seriesof reactions (1)
to(4)
lead to the conclusion :where y is the GB energy. More
systematic
use ofsplitting
reaction for energydetermination
is nowunder progress. It should be noted
that,
forhigh
coincidence twin
positions,
the usualequilibrium equation
at atriple point,
formeasuring
surfaceenergy, is
completely inadequate.
The reason issimply
that the surface energy is verydependent
ofthe GB
plane
inspecial symmetry positions.
It hasalso been shown that
microcrystal formation
inducedby microsplitting
is anefficient
way to built asym- metrical GB. It has been observed at(111) steps
in(255) 03A3
= 27 as well as in aperiodic
manner at(111) 03A3 = 9.
Therefore it seems as if the GB« thickness »
increases
with the GB energy. It is limited to an atomiclayer
forcoherent 1
= 3 or03A3 = 9,
but start to grow forincoherent (211)
03A3
= 3(2
atomiclayers),
and evenlarger
for(111) 03A3
= 27 or(111) 03A3
= 9(3
or 4 atomiclayers).
The
defect
content of as grown GBs is very sensitive to their energy(or
theircomplexity).
Anas-grown
(111) 03A3
= 3 does not contain defects. A(122) 03A3
= 9 hasonly
very few defects in formof
39
568
pure
steps
but no GBD. In(255) 03A3
=27,
the defectdensity
increases butthey
aremainly
associated to puresteps :
in this case GBDs can beexplained
interms of
secondary
dislocations or additional mis- orientation.Finally
in(211) 03A3
= 3 notonly
alarge density
ofsteps
ispresent
but also GBDs(not
due toa
misorientation). Qualitatively
this correlation may be due to the fact that the GBD core energy is small when the atomic structure of the GB islargely
distorted.
Conceming
thesteps, the density
variationbetween different GBs can also be
explained
with asimilar argument :
the surface energy of acomplex
GB is
only weakly
affectedby
smallchange
in theGB plane.
It is worthwhile to note in conclusion that in the structures
studied
sofar,
it isalways possible
to buildcompletely
reconstructed models. Tetracoordinationcan be reestablished
everywhere :
in these conditionsit is
likely
that nodeep
levels are introduced in the gap[18]. The electrical activity
of somegrain
boundaries observed in as-grown case, as well as
after
annealing
treatment should therefore be attri-buted to
impurities
or intrinsicpoint
defects. Thishypothesis, strongly supported by
thepresent
obser- vation of~011~ GBs,
is very similar to what has beenrecognized
several years ago fordislocation
cores. The electrical
activity
of dislocations is com-monly
attributed to intrinsic «point-defects
»(kinks, solitons, vacancies, ...)
or tosegregated impurities (for
a review see[19]).
This idea could thus begeneralized
for(011)
GBs.References
[1]
For a review see :Polycrystalline
semiconductors.Physical Properties
andApplications,
Ed. G.Harbeke
(Springer Verlag, Berlin).
[2]
POND, R. C. andVLACHAVAS,
D., Proc. R. Soc.A 386
(1983)
95.[3]
For a review see :Polycrystalline
semiconductors. J.Physique Colloq.
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C1.[4] D’ANTERROCHES,
C. andBOURRET,
A., Philos.Mag.A
49(1984)
783.[5] HORNSTRA,
J. R.,Physica
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409.[6]
MOLLER, H. J., Philos.Mag.
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1045.[7]
VAUDIN, M. D.,CUNNINGHAM,
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J. J., Philos.Mag.
A 49(1984)
573.[10]
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J. J., Grainboundary
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