Selective thermal decomposition of ultrathin silicon oxide layers induced by electron-stimulated oxygen desorption
- 25 August 1997
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Applied Physics Letters
- Vol. 71 (8) , 1038-1040
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.119720
Abstract
The mechanism of electron-beam-induced selective thermal decomposition of ultrathin oxide layers on Si surfaces was studied by scanning reflection electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We found that the change in the oxide layer composition caused by electron-stimulated oxygen desorption accounted for the selective thermal decomposition, where nanometer-scale voids were densely generated at a low heating temperature (720 °C). This implies that oxygen desorption from the oxide layers promotes the formation of a volatile oxide (SiO), and generates void nucleation sites.Keywords
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