Observation of ultralow-level Al impurities on a silicon surface by high-resolution grazing emission x-ray fluorescence excited by synchrotron radiation

Journal Article · Tue Sep 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVB.80.113305· OSTI ID:21294337

Kubala-Kukus, A; Banas, D; Pajek, M ^[1]; Cao, W; Dousse, J -Cl; Hoszowska, J; Kayser, Y; Szlachetko, M ^[2]; Salome, M; Susini, J ^[3]; Szlachetko, J ^[1]

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1. Institute of Physics, Jan Kochanowski University, 25-406 Kielce (Poland)
2. Department of Physics, University of Fribourg, CH-1700 Fribourg (Switzerland)
3. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), F-38043 Grenoble (France)

We demonstrate that ultralow-level Al impurities on a silicon surface can be measured by using the high-resolution grazing emission x-ray fluorescence (GEXRF) technique combined with synchrotron-radiation excitation. An Al-impurity level of about 10{sup 12} atoms/cm{sup 2} was reached by observing the Al K{alpha} x-ray fluorescence in the resonant Raman-scattering background-''free'' regime by choosing an appropriate beam energy below the Si K absorption edge. Present results show that by combining the GEXRF method with the vapor phase decomposition technique the 10{sup 7} atoms/cm{sup 2} level can be reached for Al detection on silicon. Finally, we found that the high-resolution GEXRF technique is a sensitive tool to study the morphology of surface nanostructures.

• OSTI ID: 21294337
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, Journal Name: Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter and Materials Physics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 80; ISSN 1098-0121
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
DECOMPOSITION
DETECTION
EMISSION SPECTRA
EXCITATION
FLUORESCENCE
IMPURITIES
K ABSORPTION
NANOSTRUCTURES
RAMAN EFFECT
RAMAN SPECTRA
RESOLUTION
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON
SURFACES
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION
VAPORS
X RADIATION
X-RAY SPECTRA