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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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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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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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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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.399
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