Enhancement of the optical properties of silicon devices through strain engineering

The trend towards miniaturization of electronic devices requires to evaluate the change of physical properties of materials at nanoscale. The present work aims at developing an on-chip laboratory devoted to put a silicon thin film specimen under biaxial loading, and to investigate the change of its materials properties. Finite elements simulations are used to derive convenient specimen designs, and to extract a set of dimensions allowing to sweep a range of strains from 0.001 to 0.04. Labs on-chip are then fabricated in cleanroom, using SOI technology.