Oxidation of silicon–germanium alloys. I. An experimental study

Abstract

The oxidation of polycrystalline SixGe1−x films with different compositions (i.e., different values of x) is carried out in pyrogenic steam at 800 °C for various lengths of time. It is found that the oxidation is enhanced by the presence of germanium and that the enhancement effect is more pronounced for the films richer in germanium. A mixed oxide in the form of either (Si,Ge)O2 or SiO2–GeO2 is found at the sample surface if the initial SixGe1−x contains more than 50% of germanium. However, a surface silicon cap layer of about 14 nm is found to have a significant impact on the oxidation of the Si0.5Ge0.5 films; it leads to the growth of about 115-nm-thick SiO2 which is about four times that of the SiO2 resulting from the oxidation of the cap layer itself. On the SixGe1−x films with only 30% of germanium, the SiO2 continues to grow after oxidation for 180 min resulting in 233-nm-thick SiO2 which is about 2.4 times greater than the SiO2 grown on 〈100〉 silicon substrates. Rejection of germanium results in piling up of germanium at the interface between the growing SiO2 and the remaining SixGe1−x. Substantial interdiffusion of silicon and germanium takes place in the remaining SixGe1−x. The experimental results are discussed in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics.