TY - JOUR
T1 - N 2-plasma nitridation on Si(111)
T2 - Its effect on crystalline silicon nitride growth
AU - Wu, Chung Lin
AU - Chen, Wei Sheng
AU - Su, Ying Hung
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Council in Taiwan .
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - This study uses a combination of atom-resolved scanning tunneling microscopic and spectroscopic (STM/STS) techniques to investigate the effects of N 2-plasma nitridation on a crystalline β-Si 3N 4 ultrathin film grown on the Si(111) substrate. The proposed two-step growth process, including N 2-plasma nitridation followed by vacuum annealing both at high temperature (∼ 900 °C), can substantially improve the atomic and electronic structures of the β-Si 3N 4 having an atomically uniform morphology and stoichiometry. The effects of nitridation and post-annealing temperatures were examined by monitoring the morphological and electronic-structural evolutions of a non-stoichiometric surface. Moreover, the two-step N 2-plasma nitridation process has extremely low activation energy and thus minimizes the thermal energy from the substrate for practical growth of β-Si 3N 4 ultrathin film.
AB - This study uses a combination of atom-resolved scanning tunneling microscopic and spectroscopic (STM/STS) techniques to investigate the effects of N 2-plasma nitridation on a crystalline β-Si 3N 4 ultrathin film grown on the Si(111) substrate. The proposed two-step growth process, including N 2-plasma nitridation followed by vacuum annealing both at high temperature (∼ 900 °C), can substantially improve the atomic and electronic structures of the β-Si 3N 4 having an atomically uniform morphology and stoichiometry. The effects of nitridation and post-annealing temperatures were examined by monitoring the morphological and electronic-structural evolutions of a non-stoichiometric surface. Moreover, the two-step N 2-plasma nitridation process has extremely low activation energy and thus minimizes the thermal energy from the substrate for practical growth of β-Si 3N 4 ultrathin film.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.susc.2012.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.susc.2012.03.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84861874288
SN - 0039-6028
VL - 606
SP - L51-L54
JO - Surface Science
JF - Surface Science
IS - 15-16
ER -