Microscopic Structure Of The SiO2/Si Interface

Ultra-thin silicon oxide layers on crystalline silicon wafers: Comparison of advanced oxidation techniques with respect to chemically abrupt SiO 2 /Si interfaces with low defect densities

“…Thus, the interface density can be reduced to a very low level by thermally prepared thick passivating oxide layers. The remaining rechargeable states on the SiO 2 /Si interface originate from defects localized in an interlayer with a thickness of only a few Angstrøm, while the compositional transition was found to extent over a rather wide region [11]. Therefore, the thermal preparation of ultra-thin passivating oxide layers with low interface state density (D it ) is much more complicated.…”

“…From early studies on the quantitative analysis of the interface transition layer it was concluded, that the SiO 2 /Si interface cannot be abrupt but rather possesses a graded transition layer made of Si atoms in intermediate oxidation states, i.e. Si n+ (n = 1, 2, 3) comprising of two monolayers [11]. More recent, it was shown that the compositional transition might occur only over one monolayer [13], hence the interface must be considered as abrupt [12,14].…”

“…Thus, there must be a compositional and structural transition region at the interface bridging these differences. Many studies throughout the last decades have aimed to reveal the properties of these transition layers [10][11][12]. From early studies on the quantitative analysis of the interface transition layer it was concluded, that the SiO 2 /Si interface cannot be abrupt but rather possesses a graded transition layer made of Si atoms in intermediate oxidation states, i.e.…”

Profiling of the SiO2 - SiC Interface Using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

“…Although the incident x-rays penetrate deep into the sample, only electrons emitted from a thin surface layer are detected. The electron escape depth for Si, C and O ranges from 2.0 to 2.5 nm [6]. We will exploit the surface sensitivity of XPS on a wedge polished sample to obtain chemical state data as a function of position away from the SiO 2 /SiC interface.…”

Improved Si/SiOx interface passivation by ultra-thin tunneling oxide layers prepared by rapid thermal oxidation

“…The dependence of the density of interface states (D it ) at the Si/SiO 2 interface on the silicon surface morphology and on the surface roughness prior to oxidation was investigated and modeled in references [37][38][39][40]. The electronic properties of Si/SiO 2 interfaces are governed by the density and type of interface states resulting from different types of dangling bond defects [41].…”