Abstract
A relatively thick (i.e., ∼9 nm) SiO 2 layer can be formed by oxidation of Si with nitric acid (HNO 3) vapor below 500 °C. In spite of the low temperature formation, the leakage current density flowing through the SiO 2 layer is considerably low, and it follows the Fowler–Nordheim mechanism. From the Fowler–Nordheim plots, the conduction band offset energy at the SiO 2/Si interface is determined to be 2.57 and 2.21 eV for HNO 3 vapor oxidation at 500 and 350 °C, respectively. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, the valence band offset energy is estimated to be 4.80 and 4.48 eV, respectively, for 500 and 350 °C oxidation. The band-gap energy of the SiO 2 layer formed at 500 °C (8.39 eV) is 0.68 eV larger than that formed at 350 °C. The higher band-gap energy for 500 °C oxidation is mainly attributable to the higher atomic density of the SiO 2 layer of 2.46 × 10 22/cm 3. Another reason may be the absence of SiO 2 trap-states.
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