Giant piezoresistance in silicon-germanium alloys

Thumbnail Image
Files
PhysRevB.86.035205.pdf(979.19 KB)
Published Version
Date
2012-01
Authors
Murphy-Armando, Felipe
Fahy, Stephen B.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Physical Society
Published Version
10.1103/PhysRevB.86.035205
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Abstract
We use first-principles electronic structure methods to show that the piezoresistive strain gauge factor of single-crystalline bulk n-type silicon-germanium alloys at carefully controlled composition can reach values of G = 500, three times larger than that of silicon, the most sensitive such material used in industry today. At cryogenic temperatures of 4 K we find gauge factors of G = 135 000, 13 times larger than that observed in Si whiskers. The improved piezoresistance is achieved by tuning the scattering of carriers between different (Delta and L) conduction band valleys by controlling the alloy composition and strain configuration.
Description
Keywords
Semiconductors , Temperatures
Citation
MURPHY-ARMANDO, F. & FAHY, S. 2012. Giant piezoresistance in silicon-germanium alloys. Physical Review B, 86, 035205.
Link to publisher’s version
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.86.035205
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10468/2666
Collections
Physics - Journal Articles
Tyndall National Institute - Journal Articles
Copyright
©2012 American Physical Society