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research article

Dependence of the O-2 diffusion rate on oxide thickness during silicon oxidation

Bongiorno, A.
•
Pasquarello, Alfredo  
2003
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

We address the rate of O-2 diffusion through the oxide layer at Si-SiO2 interfaces using an atomic-scale approach. In particular, we investigate the combined effect of a percolative diffusion mechanism and of a dense oxide layer located close to the silicon substrate. We first extend our atomic-scale description of O-2 diffusion in amorphous SiO2 to the case of a densified oxide. This yields an activation energy which compares well with the experimental result. Next, we investigate the dependence of the O-2 diffusion rate on oxide thickness at Si-SiO2 interfaces using Monte Carlo simulations. We consider both homogeneous and nonhomogeneous oxide layers. The nonhomogeneous oxide is composed of two layers, a normal and a densified one. The thickness and the mass density of the densified layer are taken from experiment. In the case of a normal oxide, we find that the O-2 diffusion rate increases with decreasing thickness, as a result of the percolative nature of the diffusion mechanism. When a densified layer is inserted, the diffusion coefficient drops below its value for bulk amorphous SiO2, for oxide thicknesses larger than 2 nm. This result is consistent with the experimental behaviour of the oxidation kinetics.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1088/0953-8984/15/16/305
Web of Science ID

WOS:000182936200006

Author(s)
Bongiorno, A.
Pasquarello, Alfredo  
Date Issued

2003

Published in
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Volume

15

Issue

16

Start page

S1553

End page

S1560

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
CSEA  
Available on Infoscience
October 8, 2009
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/43445
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