Finding interstitial oxygen in an Si substrate during low-temperature plasma oxidation

An Si substrate (100) was oxidized at a low temperature in inductively coupled oxygen plasma. Interstitial oxygen was found in the Si substrate at the initial stage of oxidation by IR measurements. The penetration depth of the interstitial oxygen was about 4 nm. An x-ray rocking curve of Si substrates showed a lower peak intensity due to lattice distortion by the interstitial oxygen. The refractive index of thin oxides, below which interstitial oxygen existed in the Si substrate, was smaller than the refractive index of thick oxides, below which no interstitial oxygen existed. The interstitial oxygen was found by plasma oxidation using O-2 gas and N2O gas. The inductively coupled plasma oxidation using N2O gas was performed by atomic oxygen, not by molecular oxygen, indicating that atomic oxygen in plasma is responsible for the incorporation of interstitial oxygen. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.