Abstract
The selective removal of native SiO2 with respect to Si and thermal SiO2 using XeF2 was studied with ellipsometry, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The native SiO2 layer was removed with a static process at a pressure of 1 Torr and room temperature, but the Si substrate was roughened on a micron scale. To avoid roughening, a continuous flow of XeF2 was used at pressures lower than 10 mTorr. XPS analysis confirmed that the XeF2 exposure fluorinated the native oxide and both the oxide and fluorine were removed by heating to 925 K (650 °C). AFM showed no change in surface roughness after the low pressure exposure and heating, and together with XPS peak area ratios before and after XeF2 show that the native oxide was etched without etching the underlying Si substrate.
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