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Si(100) Surface Preparation by In-Situ or in-Vacuo Exposure to Remotely Plasma-Generated Atomic Hydrogen: Applications to Deposited SiO2 and Epitaxial Growth of Si
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Abstract
This paper addresses the in-situ/in-vacuo preparation of Si (100) substrates by hydrogen plasma cleaning prior to low temperature deposition of SiO2, or epitaxial growth of Si or Ge. The paper emphasizes the effectiveness of this type of substrate surface preparation following ex-situ wet-cleaning procedures that include: i) conventional RCA cleans; ii) modified RCA cleans, which incorporate exposure of the Si substrate to ozone, O3; and iii) ozone exposure, with all of these terminated by the removal of sacrificial oxides by dilute HF. We conclude: i) all ex-situ surface cleaning of Si (100) substrates leaves behind sub-monolayer oxygen and carbon surface contamination; ii) that virtually all of the carbon can be removed by exposure of the Si surface to atomic hydrogen at a temperature of <300°C; and iii) that a necessary condition for: (a) the formation of Si/SiO2 interfaces with low defect densities, Dit<l−3×1010cm−2-eV−1, and (b) the growth of epitaxial films of Si; is that the processed Si surface exhibit a 2×1 reconstruction, as detected by LEED or RHEED, following the exposure to atomic hydrogen.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991
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