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The Si/SiO2 Interface: Atomic Structures, Composition, Strain and Energetics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

S. J. Pennycook ,
G. Duscher ,
R. Buczko  and
S. T. Pantelides
S. J. Pennycook
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235
G. Duscher
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235
R. Buczko*
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235
S. T. Pantelides
Affiliation:
Solid State Division, Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235
*
*On leave from:Institute of Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland. This research was sponsored by the Division of Materials Sciences, USDOE, under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464
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Abstract

A number of recent studies of grain boundaries and heterophase interfaces have demonstrated the power of combining Z-contrast STEM imaging, EELS and first-principles theoretical modeling to give an essentially complete atomic scale description of structure, bonding and energetics. Impurity sites and valence can be determined experimentally and configurations determined through calculations.

Here we present an investigation of the Si/SiO2 interface. The Z-contrast image in Fig. la, taken with the VG Microscopes HB603U STEM, shows that the atomic structure of Si is maintained up to the last layers visible. The decrease in intensity near the interface could originate from interfacial roughness of around one unit cell (∼0.5 nm), or may represent dechanneling in the slightly buckled columns induced by the oxide. Fig. lb, taken from a sample with ∼1 nm interface roughness, shows a band of bright contrast near the interface. This is not due to impurities or thickness variation since it disappears on increasing the detector angle from 25 mrad to 45 mrad (Fig. lc), and is therefore due to induced strain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 7 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2001, Microscopy Society of America 59th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 35th Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California August 5-9, 2001 , August 2001 , pp. 768 - 769
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 1999

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References

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