REACTION OF ETHYLENE WITH THE SI(111) AND (100) SURFACES AT HIGH-TEMPERATURES - CRITICAL CONDITIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF SIC

The reaction of ethylene with the Si(111) and (100) surfaces has been studied at high temperature (1130-1370°C), with ethylene pressures between 10-5 and 10-2 Torr. The critical conditions involving ethylene pressure and substrate temperature which lead to the growth of a SiC layer on these Si surfaces have been determined. These results are compared with a simple theoretical model for the growth (and decay) of SiC clusters, and also with results of a previous study of the reaction of acetylene with the Si(111) surface at high temperatures. Very low dissociation coefficients, Sd ∼ 10-8-10-13, are obtained for ethylene on these clean Si surfaces. These results indicate that the dissociative chemisorption of ethylene on Si is activated. © 1979.