The Early Oxynitridation Stages of Hydrogen-Terminated Single-Crystalline Silicon in N2O Ambient

Abstract

AbstractOxynitridation of hydrogen-terminated silicon with N2O has been studied by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Our analysis has given evidence that the broad N(1s) peak at 398.3 eV usually reported in the literature is preceded by the formation of a very narrow peak at 397.3 eV, attributed to the moiety Si3N in which nitrogen is only marginally oxidized, and two other peaks (previously never reported) at 400.0 eV and 401.5 eV, attributed to the moieties Si2NOSi and SiNO, respectively.