Experimental Evidence of a Gaussian Roughness at Si(111)/SiO{sub 2} Interfaces

Journal Article · Sat Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1998 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.4919· OSTI ID:670235

Chen, X ^[1]; Gibson, J M ^[2]

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1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 W. Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)

With a plan-view transmission electron microscope technique to unambiguously image the {open_quotes}physical{close_quotes} interface position between Si and furnace grown SiO{sub 2} layers, we first show experimental evidence that the height-height autocorrelation function is a Gaussian function at Si(111)/SiO{sub 2} interfaces. With a simple kinetic model, we have found that this Gaussian autocorrelation function is a natural consequence of step motion during silicon oxidation. This result puts interfacial roughness measurements on a firmer foundation in the future. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society }

• Research Organization: University of Illinois
• DOE Contract Number: FG02-91ER45439
• OSTI ID: 670235
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 81; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
INTERFACES
LANGEVIN EQUATION
OXIDATION
ROUGHNESS
SILICON
SILICON OXIDES
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY