We show that the retardation in the silicon oxidation rate associated with an ammonium hydroxide-hydrogen peroxide preclean is due to trace amounts of aluminum in the region of the 8i0 2 surface. This aluminum and the retarding effect can be eliminated by removing less than 50 A of thermal oxide in a HF:H 2 0 etch. Depositing thin films of aluminum with thicknesses between 0.05 and 1 monolayers (ML) on HF cleaned surfaces produced the same retardation as the NH 4 0H based cleans. These results indicate the importance of the Si0 2 surface in silicon oxidation.
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