Pressure effect on the growth of oxide layers on germanium substrates

Abstract

Abstract X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to investigate the growth of thin oxide layers obtained by dry oxidation on ( 011 ) germanium substrates. The heat treatments were carried out, in-situ, at T =380°C under various values of air pressure. The quantitative analysis of the XPS spectra suggests the growth of non uniform oxide layers. An apparent thickness of the oxide film was defined as function of the fraction of the oxidized surface and of the actual thickness of the oxide islands. The results show a quasi linear dependence of the apparent thickness versus the air pressure.