The interaction of hydrogen with a Zr(OOOI) surface at room temperature has been investigated by using 2HeHe,p)4He nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), dynamic secondary ion mass spectroscopy, static secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The initial sticking coefficient (for D) obtained from the absolute deuterium coverage measured by NRA was found to be 0.38 ±0.16 which is higher than a previously published value by about four orders of magnitude. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy H + integrated intensities were converted to hydrogen concentration by calibration using NRA. The sticking coefficient for H2 appears to be very similar to that for D 2 . It was found that the hydrogen atoms appear to stay at the surface until the surface concentration saturates at 0.77 monolayer (4 L exposure). Upon further exposure the hydrogen penetrates through the surface. The valence-band-related Auger transitions show a small but discernible change upon exposure to greater than 2 L hydrogen. This, as well as changes in the low-energy electron diffraction pattern, indicates the formation of hydride in the early stages of exposure. An uptake model was proposed, from which a good agreement for sticking coefficient with NRA results was obtained.

We have investigated the initial growth of silicon oxynitride films on a clean Si(100) single crystal in a N2O ambient under ultrahigh vacuum conditions using Auger electron spectroscopy and nuclear reaction analysis. Variations in the growth parameters, e.g., exposure, N2O pressure and sample temperature, have been systematically investigated. Nitrogen incorporated in the oxynitride film is distributed in a region close to the film/substrate interface and most nitrogen is incorporated within a film thickness of ∼2.5 nm. These studies find an important application to the semiconductor industry with regard to possible new high quality gate oxide materials.