Issue |
EPL
Volume 94, Number 1, April 2011
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 16003 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | Condensed Matter: Structural, Mechanical and Thermal Properties | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/94/16003 | |
Published online | 07 April 2011 |
Ultra-thin high-quality silicon nitride films on Si(111)
1
Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Bremen - Postfach 330440, D–28334 Bremen, Germany, EU
2
ELETTRA Synchrotron Light Source - Strada Statale 14, km 163.5, 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy, EU
3
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham - Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK, EU (b)
4
NEST, Istituto Nanoscienze-CNR and Scuola Normale Superiore - Piazza San Silvestro 12, 56127 Pisa, Italy, EU
Received:
14
December
2010
Accepted:
9
March
2011
Ultra-thin silicon nitride films grown by exposure of Si(111) substrates to a flux of atomic nitrogen at temperatures between 700 °C and 1050 °C have been investigated by means of X-ray spectromicroscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray reflectivity, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The films show a Si3N4 stoichiometry. For reactive nitride growth at temperatures below 800 °C, a smooth surface and interface morphology is found. Higher temperatures lead to the formation of rough films with holes and grooves of increasing size, approaching a lateral size of several hundred nanometers for growth temperatures above 900 °C. Nonetheless, X-ray spectromicroscopy shows that the bottom of the holes consists of Si3N4.
PACS: 68.55.-a – Thin film structure and morphology / 68.37.Xy – Scanning Auger microscopy, photoelectron microscopy / 61.05.cm – X-ray reflectometry (surfaces, interfaces, films)
© EPLA, 2011
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