AVS 46th International Symposium
    Electronic Materials and Processing Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session EM-TuM

Paper EM-TuM5
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study of Surface Morphology of Si(111) after Synchrotron Radiation Stimulated Desorption of SiO@sub 2@

Tuesday, October 26, 1999, 9:40 am, Room 608

Session: Si Surface Chemistry and Etching, Passivation, and Oxidation
Presenter: Y. Gao, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
Authors: Y. Gao, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
T. Miyamae, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
H. Mekaru, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
T. Urisu, Institute for Molecular Science, Japan
Correspondent: Click to Email
We have used scanning tunneling microscopy to investigate the surface morphology of Si(111) after the native SiO@sub 2@ layer was removed by synchrotron radiation stimulated desorption at 650 °C. The surface shows large regions of atomically flat Si(111)-7x7 structure. An interesting feature of the surface is the formation of atomic steps nicely registered to the crystal structure, and the pinning of the steps by nanometer scale dust is evident. This is in sharp contrast to Si(111) surfaces after thermal desorption of SiO@sub 2@ at temperatures 880°C and above, where the surface steps are much more irregular. The registration of the surface steps to the underlying crystal structure indicates that the surface atomic layer reaches thermodynamic equilibrium under synchrotron radiation at temperatures much lower than that necessary for thermal desorption of SiO@sub 2@.