Enhanced oxidation of silicon using a collimated hyperthermal ozone beam

Abstract

Silicon was oxidized by a collimated hyperthermal ozone beam produced by pulsed-laser ablation of solid ozone to increase the controllability of the silicon dioxide film thickness and to achieve low-temperature oxidation. The oxidation rate could be accurately controlled by the number of laser shots to which the number of supplied ozone molecules was proportional. Ozone molecules with a translational energy of around 1 eV obtained by laser ablation produced an initially rapid oxidized region with no temperature dependence in which a 0.6 nm silicon dioxide film could be synthesized at room temperature with only 200 laser shots. Higher-efficiency oxidation was also achieved in comparison with that by using a spray of ozone with thermal energy.