skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Comparative study of GeO2/Ge and SiO2/Si structures on anomalous charging of oxide films upon water adsorption revealed by ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Journal Article · · Journal of Applied Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4962202· OSTI ID:1377479
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Osaka Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Engineering. Dept. of Precision Science and Technology
  2. Osaka Univ. (Japan). Graduate School of Engineering. Dept. of Material and Life Science
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source

The energy difference between the oxide and bulk peaks in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra was investigated in this paper for both GeO2/Ge and SiO2/Si structures with thickness-controlled water films. This was achieved by obtaining XPS spectra at various values of relative humidity (RH) of up to ~15%. The increase in the energy shift is more significant for thermal GeO2 on Ge than for thermal SiO2 on Si above ~10-4% RH, which is due to the larger amount of water molecules that infiltrate into the GeO2 film to form hydroxyls. Analyzing the origins of this energy shift, we propose that the positive charging of a partially hydroxylated GeO2 film, which is unrelated to X-ray irradiation, causes the larger energy shift for GeO2/Ge than for SiO2/Si. A possible microscopic mechanism of this intrinsic positive charging is the emission of electrons from adsorbed water species in the suboxide layer of the GeO2 film to the Ge bulk, leaving immobile cations or positively charged states in the oxide. Finally, this may be related to the reported negative shift of flat band voltages in metal-oxide-semiconductor diodes with an air-exposed GeO2 layer.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (Japan); Murata Science Foundation (Japan); Mikiya Science and Technology Foundation (Japan)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; JP24686020; JP26630026; JP16K14133
OSTI ID:
1377479
Journal Information:
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 9; ISSN 0021-8979
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 11 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (42)

Structural and thermodynamic consideration of metal oxide doped GeO 2 for gate stack formation on germanium journal November 2014
Generation and Controlling the Trap in Absorbent Germanium Oxide Film journal July 2011
Water Growth on GeO 2 /Ge(100) Stack and Its Effect on the Electronic Properties of GeO 2 journal December 2012
Germanium channel MOSFETs: Opportunities and challenges journal July 2006
Recommended Auger parameters for 42 elemental solids journal March 2012
Autocatalytic Surface Hydroxylation of MgO(100) Terrace Sites Observed under Ambient Conditions journal June 2011
Interaction of water vapors with germanium coated with an oxide film
  • Enikeev, �. Kh.; Loginov, A. Yu.; Golovanova, G. F.
  • Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR Division of Chemical Science, Vol. 24, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00929720
journal October 1975
Water-Related Hole Traps at Thermally Grown GeO 2 –Ge Interface journal April 2012
Microscopic structure of the SiO 2 /Si interface journal September 1988
A differentially pumped electrostatic lens system for photoemission studies in the millibar range journal November 2002
The nature of water on surfaces of laboratory systems and implications for heterogeneous chemistry in the troposphere journal January 2004
Electron spectroscopic analysis of the SiO2/Si system and correlation with metal–oxide–semiconductor device characteristics journal May 1996
The Nature of Water Nucleation Sites on TiO 2 (110) Surfaces Revealed by Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy journal June 2007
Conduction band offset at GeO 2 /Ge interface determined by internal photoemission and charge-corrected x-ray photoelectron spectroscopies journal March 2013
Evaluation of GeO desorption behavior in the metal/GeO2/Ge structure and its improvement of the electrical characteristics journal June 2010
Oxide thickness dependence of energy shifts in the Si 2p levels for the SiO2/Si structure, and its elimination by a palladium overlayer journal August 1998
Tunneling Current through Ultrathin Silicon Dioxide Films under Light Exposure journal November 2004
Evidence of low interface trap density in GeO2∕Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor structures fabricated by thermal oxidation journal July 2008
Effective electrical passivation of Ge(100) for high-k gate dielectric layers using germanium oxide journal August 2007
The role of extra-atomic relaxation in determining Si 2p binding energy shifts at silicon/silicon oxide interfaces journal September 1997
Origin of flatband voltage shift and unusual minority carrier generation in thermally grown GeO2/Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor devices journal May 2009
Structures chimique et electronique de l'interface SiO2-Si journal July 1981
Germanium oxynitride gate dielectrics formed by plasma nitridation of ultrathin thermal oxides on Ge(100) journal July 2009
Evolution of the Adsorbed Water Layer Structure on Silicon Oxide at Room Temperature journal September 2005
Surface oxidation states of germanium journal July 1986
Adsorption of Water on Cu 2 O and Al 2 O 3 Thin Films journal June 2008
Insight into unusual impurity absorbability of GeO 2 in GeO 2 /Ge stacks journal October 2011
Water Adsorption, Solvation, and Deliquescence of Potassium Bromide Thin Films on SiO 2 Studied by Ambient-Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy journal August 2010
High dielectric constant gate oxides for metal oxide Si transistors journal December 2005
Ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy: A new tool for surface science and nanotechnology journal April 2008
Characterization of chemical bonding features at metal/GeO2 Interfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy journal July 2011
Water Adsorption on α-Fe 2 O 3 (0001) at near Ambient Conditions journal January 2010
New ambient pressure photoemission endstation at Advanced Light Source beamline 9.3.2 journal May 2010
Electron cyclotron resonance plasma and thermal oxidation mechanisms of germanium journal July 1994
Dramatic Improvement of GeO2/Ge MIS Characteristics by Suppression of GeO Volatilization conference January 2007
Oxidation of Ge(100) and Ge(111) surfaces: an UPS and XPS study journal March 1995
Direct Evidence of GeO Volatilization from GeO 2 /Ge and Impact of Its Suppression on GeO 2 /Ge Metal–Insulator–Semiconductor Characteristics journal April 2008
Passivation of Ge(100)∕GeO[sub 2]∕high-κ Gate Stacks Using Thermal Oxide Treatments journal January 2008
Growth and Structure of Water on SiO 2 Films on Si Investigated by Kelvin Probe Microscopy and in Situ X-ray Spectroscopies journal September 2007
Structure of ultrathin SiO2/Si(111) interfaces studied by photoelectron spectroscopy
  • Keister, J. W.; Rowe, J. E.; Kolodziej, J. J.
  • Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films, Vol. 17, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1116/1.581805
journal July 1999
Enhancement of thermal stability and water resistance in yttrium-doped GeO 2 /Ge gate stack journal March 2014
Hydroxyl-Induced Wetting of Metals by Water at Near-Ambient Conditions journal June 2007

Cited By (1)

GeO 2 Encapsulated Ge Nanostructure with Enhanced Lithium-Storage Properties journal January 2019