Wet oxidation
- 1 January 1987
- journal article
- transport processes-in-silicon-oxidation
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Philosophical Magazine Part B
- Vol. 55 (2) , 225-235
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13642818708211205
Abstract
We present results of calculations relating to the transport processes controlling wet oxidation of silicon. Our calculations, by the CNDO self-consistent molecular orbital method, relate to interstitial diffusion of the water molecule. They indicate that, in quartz, the molecule can diffuse in a spiral motion along the open c-axis channels. The motion energy predicted is small (∼ 0·2 eV if ionic polarization is ignored) and the incorporation energy significantly larger (∼1·75 eV, ignoring ionic polarization). The sum of the two is distinctly greater than the observed Arrhenius energy of about 0·8 eV. Possible explanations are discussed, the most likely being a significant ionic polarization energy estimated by separate methods to be about 0·9–1 eV in the incorporation energy. Another possibility involves the association of pairs of water molecules to form dimers which diffuse through the oxide.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Dry oxidationPhilosophical Magazine Part B, 1987
- Simulation of interstitial diffusion in an amorphous structureJournal of Physics F: Metal Physics, 1985
- Clustering of molecular hydrogen in fused silicaApplied Physics Letters, 1985
- Transport processes during the growth of oxide films at elevated temperatureReviews of Modern Physics, 1985
- Hydrogen speciation in synthetic quartzPhysics and Chemistry of Minerals, 1984
- Mechanisms for the oxidation of silicon and the formation of charged defectsProceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 1981
- Muonium in quartzHyperfine Interactions, 1981
- Oxidation of silicon by water and oxygen and diffusion in fused silicaThe Journal of Physical Chemistry, 1976
- General Relationship for the Thermal Oxidation of SiliconJournal of Applied Physics, 1965
- Conduction in polar crystals. I. Electrolytic conduction in solid saltsTransactions of the Faraday Society, 1938