XPS, AFM, ATR and TPD evidence for terraced, dihydrogen terminated, 1×1 (100) silicon

Abstract

Heating (100) silicon at high temperature (say, higher than 850• C) in H 2 , cooling to 670-700 • C in the same ambient, and quenching to room temperature in N 2 results in environmentally robust, terraced 1 × 1 (100) SiH 2 . Evidence for this conclusion is based on angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflection mode, thermal programmed desorption, and reflection high-energy electron diffraction.

Combined IR and XPS analysis of the native (1 0 0) surface of single‐crystalline silicon after HFaq etching

“…Attributing a chemical structure to Si is not easy. 38 While the latter one might have a chemical nature similar to that responsible for the Si signal reported in this work, the former one has certainly a different nature: 2 ð 1 (1 0 0) Si 2 dimers, if any, would immediately be destroyed after exposure to air.…”