AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Electronic Materials and Processing Thursday Sessions
       Session EM-ThP

Paper EM-ThP30
Oxidation of Thin Y-Si Film on Silicon

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Electronic Materials and Processing Poster Session
Presenter: S.Y. Chiam, Imperial College, United Kingdom
Authors: S.Y. Chiam, Imperial College, United Kingdom
W.K. Chim, National University of Singapore
A.C. Huan, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
J. Zhang, Imperial College, UK
J.S. Pan, Institute of Materials Research & Engineering, Singapore
Correspondent: Click to Email
Oxidation studies are investigated on sputtered films in the formation of yttrium silicate by a two step process. Firstly, an in-situ low temperature annealing of yttrium (Y) metal on silicon (Si) is performed to obtain a Y-Si film. The Y-Si film is then oxidized ex-situ in a horizontal furnace of either nitrogen (N2) or oxygen (O2) ambient. Deposited films are investigated by depth profiling X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We report on self-limiting formation of yttrium silicate at room temperature which is insensitive to annealing ambient. We also found that oxygen pressure plays an important role in the extent of Si oxidation at mid-annealing temperature. Finally, we report that a relatively high temperature is needed for the complete oxidation of Y-Si films in the formation of yttrium silicate films. This is attributed to a high diffusion barrier for oxygen caused by initial yttrium silicate films formed on the top of the film which is the limiting mechanism for the oxidation of Y-Si film.