Atomic Layer Deposition of SiO$_2$-GeO$_2$ multilayers

Abstract

Despite its interest for CMOS applications, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of GeO 2 thin films, by itself or in combination with SiO 2 , has not been widely investigated yet. Here we report the ALD growth of SiO 2 /GeO 2 multilayers on Silicon substrates using a so far unreported Ge precursor. The characterization of multilayers with various periodicities reveals successful layer-by-layer growth with electron density contrast and absence of chemical intermixing, down to a periodicity of 2 atomic layers.