Epitaxial silicon oxynitride layer on a 6H-SiC(0001) surface.
Hydrogen-gas etching of a 6H-SiC(0001) surface and subsequent annealing in nitrogen atmosphere leads to the formation of a silicon oxynitride (SiON) epitaxial layer. A quantitative low-energy electron diffraction analysis revealed that the SiON layer has a hetero-double-layer structure: a silicate monolayer on a silicon nitride monolayer via Si-O-Si bridge bonds. There are no dangling bonds in the unit cell, which explains the fact that the structure is robust against air exposure. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measured on the SiON layer shows a bulk SiO2-like band gap of approximately 9 eV. Great potential of this new epitaxial layer for device applications is described.
Shirasawa
Tetsuroh
T
Department of Molecular and Material Sciences, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan.
Hayashi
Kenjiro
K
Mizuno
Seigi
S
Tanaka
Satoru
S
Nakatsuji
Kan
K
Komori
Fumio
F
Tochihara
Hiroshi
H