Oxide Growth on Etched Silicon in Air at Room Temperature

Abstract

Oxide growth on etched silicon wafers at room temperature was studied as a function of etching procedure, wafer orientation, dopant concentration, and exposure to ultraviolet light. An impurity film was rapidly deposited on the silicon surface after etching with hydrofluoric acid. Impurity adsorption was distinguished from oxide growth by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (E'SCA). The impurity film greatly reduced the initial oxide growth rate when compared with oxide, growth on a cleaved silicon surface. The thickness of oxide films formed on etched surfaces was determined and compared using ESCA and ellipsometry.* Electrochemical Society Active Member.

Surface chemistry dependence of native oxidation formation on silicon nanocrystals

“…The oxidation rate slows dramatically with increasing thickness, achieving a near saturation at about 2.3 nm. The results are in good agreement with the ellipsometry measurements by Raider et al 12 on flat silicon wafers. It is interesting that the saturation value of oxide thickness is independent of surface treatment.…”

“…[9][10][11][12] Most of the research has been focused on a greater understanding of Si, SiO 2 , and the Si/ SiO 2 interface for use in electronic device applications, such as the gate oxide in Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor ͑MOS͒ technology. Similar to bulk silicon, Si-NCs are highly susceptible to oxidation, even at room temperature.…”

Complete magnesiothermic reduction reaction of vertically aligned mesoporous silica channels to form pure silicon nanoparticles

“…This observation indicates that Si-O in the XPS of the mesoporous structure originates from naturally formed silica layer, not from residual silica. In fact, it has been demonstrated previously that a thin layer of silica is naturally formed on silicon surface in the presence of air and humidity at room temperature2526. Finally, inspection of the XPS spectrum of completely reduced silicon nanoparticles on rGO (Figure 4d) shows that no impurities such as Mg 2 Si or Mg 2 SiO 4 are present and that only carbon (C1s), silicon (Si2p) and oxide (O1s) atoms exist, which arises from rGO and silicon nanoparticles, respectively.…”

Electrochemical Etching Methods for Producing Porous Silicon

“…Hydrogenterminated silicon surfaces are hydrophobic, showing a large contact angle for a drop of water [34,35]. Silicon surfaces dipped in HF or in ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F) show equivalent hydrophobic character.…”