STRUCTURE OF SILICON-OXIDE ON SI(001) GROWN AT LOW-TEMPERATURES

Structure of amorphous oxide thin-films grown on Si(001) wafers under an atmosphere Of O3, and also under an atmosphere of afterglow of microwave plasma of O2 was investigated by X-ray diffraction. Crystallites were found in both oxidation samples as well as in the usual O2 oxidation [I. Takahashi et al., J. Phys: Condensed Matter 5 (1993) 6525]. Peak intensity and profile in X-ray diffraction responsible for existence and distribution of the crystallites in the oxide film, depend on the oxidation conditions. Least-squares fitting of the data indicates that crystallite growth is less pronounced in O3 oxidation compared with O2 oxidation, and the crystallites are located at the interface only in the afterglow of microwave plasma oxidation. Parameters describing the interface morphology indicate that the interface produced by either oxidation procedure is not as smooth as conventional O2 oxidized samples.