Lattice strain and tilt mapping in stressed Ge microstructures using X-ray Laue micro-diffraction and rainbow filtering

Laue micro-diffraction and simultaneous rainbow-filtered micro-diffraction were used to measure accurately the full strain tensor and the lattice orientation distribution at the sub-micrometre scale in highly strained, suspended Ge micro-devices. A numerical approach to obtain the full strain tensor from the deviatoric strain measurement alone is also demonstrated and used for faster full strain mapping. The measurements were performed in a series of micro-devices under either uniaxial or biaxial stress and an excellent agreement with numerical simulations was found. This shows the superior potential of Laue micro-diffraction for the investigation of highly strained micro-devices.