Hydrogen passivation effect in Si molecular beam epitaxy

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Abstract
Hydrogen passivation of the clean Si(100) surface to prevent growth of native oxides after air exposure was studied by supplying atomic hydrogen at several temperatures between room temperature and 650 °C. Atomic hydrogen was generated with high efficiency by the electron cyclotron resonance plasma cell of the gas source Si molecular beam epitaxy apparatus. The passivation effect was examined by observing the oxygen KLL Auger peak height of the passivated wafer after 12 h air exposure. The wafer supplied with atomic hydrogen at temperatures below 400 °C showed an obvious passivation effect, while the wafer supplied with hydrogen at temperatures above 400 °C showed no passivation effects. The solid source Si MBE growth was done on these hydrogen‐passivated and 12 h air‐exposed wafers at the growth temperature of 600 °C without any initial surface cleaning process. A good crystal quality film which showed a sharp 2×1 reflection high‐energy electron diffraction pattern was obtained on the wafer supplied with hydrogen at temperature below 400 °C.