Nanometer-scale wetting of the silicon surface by its equilibrium oxide.
Despite the extremely broad technical applications of the Si/SiO2 structure, the equilibrium wetting properties of silicon oxide on silicon are poorly understood. Here, we produce new results in which a solid-state buffer method is used to systematically titrate oxygen activity about the Si/SiO2 coexistence value. The equilibrium morphology at the Si(001) surface over >8 decades of PO2 about coexistence is revealed to be a uniform sub-stoichiometric SiOx film of sub-nanometer thickness, coexisting with secondary island structures which coarsen with annealing time. A new thermodynamic method using chemical potential to stabilize and control surficial oxides in nanoscale devices is suggested.
Tang
Ming
M
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Ramos
Ana V
AV
Jud
Eva
E
Chung
Sung-Yoon
SY
Gautier-Soyer
Martine
M
Cannon
Rowland M
RM
Carter
W Craig
WC
Chiang
Yet-Ming
YM