The kinetics of plasma oxidation of silicon at constant anodization current have been investigated. Oxidation was performed in an inductively coupled rf plasma anodization setup. The oxidation model is based on the assumption that the oxidant from the plasma is neutral atomic oxygen which captures an electron inside the oxide and forms a negative oxygen ion (O−). The O− ion then hops through interstitial sites in the oxide due to the high drift field during the anodization. A photon-assisted oxidation mechanism is assumed to occur at the SiO2/Si interface in which the energy to break Si—Si bonds at the interface is supplied by UV photons which are generated in the plasma. Based on these assumptions an analytical model was developed that successfully explains the dependence of oxidation rate on the gas pressure in the plasma, which was not explained by previous investigators. It has been shown that during constant current anodization, the space-charge effects inside the oxide are negligible. It was found that the oxidation rate shows a weak temperature dependence with a thermal activation energy of 0.04 eV. The data on oxide thickness versus the oxidation time were found to be in good agreement with the theory.
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