title: Nanometer-scale wetting of the silicon surface by its equilibrium oxide.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jud
authors.forename: Sung-Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gautier-Soyer
authors.forename: Rowland M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Cannon
authors.forename: W Craig
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Yet-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Chiang