A New 3D Multistring Code to Identify Compound Oxide Nanophase With Ion Channeling

Abstract

AbstractA new 3DMultiString computer code of Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) using 4He++ ion channeling combined with Nuclear Resonance Analysis (NRA) is used to analyze controlled formation of order in continuous layers of silicon dioxide nucleated on (1×1) Si(100) via the Herbots-Atluri clean (U.S. patent 6,613,677 (9/3/2003)) in air at 300 K. In our most recent work, this new 3DMultiString simulations combined with IBA leads to the identification of a new two-dimensional nanophase of tetragonally distorted β-cristobalite SiO2 (annotated b-c SiO2) with a critical thickness of 2 nm from the (1×1) Si (100)/b-c SiO2 interface to the b-c SiO2 /amorphous SiO2 interface (annotated b-c SiO2/a-SiO2). 3DMultiString simulations of IBA data taken on this new b-c SiO2/(1×1) Si(100) interphase includes channeling along the three <100>, <110>, and <111> axes of Si (100) in combination 16OO(α, α)16O 3.045 MeV NRA to measure oxygen areal densities corresponding to nm-thick films. In this way, the critical thickness of the β-c SiO2 nanophase can be established as a function of oxygen coverage. This new 3DMultiSTRING computer code is derived from the original 3DSTRING program that originated at Bell Labs, NJ.