Energetics of Si(001)

Zandvliet, Henricus J.W.

doi:10.1103/revmodphys.72.593

Cited by 144 publications

(147 citation statements)

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“…Thus, several previous modeling studies focused on equilibrium step structure and dynamics were based on attachment-detachment of dimer pairs subject to anisotropic nearest-neighbor interactions, but also including weaker longer range next-neighbor interactions or additional corner energies. 13,17 However, the basic features of nonequilibrium mesoscale step, island, or pit structure and dynamics, which are of relevance in our study, can be effectively captured by other modeling formulations, see Sec. III.…”

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 This interaction anisotropy implies a high kink creation energy on socalled S A steps which run parallel to the dimer rows on the upper terrace bordering the step. This is because creation of kinks on S A steps corresponds to breaking "strong bonds" between dimers in the same row.…”

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1͒ alternates between consecutive terraces separated by monatomic steps. 13,14 This feature of surface structure, and the tendency for etching to create divacancies ͑as described below͒, means that the dimer is the natural building block for the description of surface structure in our lattice-gas model, see Sec. III.…”

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, this anisotropy in kink creation energies leads to the well-known feature of alternating rough or meandering S B steps, and smooth or nearly straight S A steps, on a vicinal Si͑100͒ surface. 13 Given these two different types of steps, it is conventional to distinguish two distinct types of terraces: T A terraces are those above S A steps for which the dimer rows run along the direction of the terrace; T B terraces are those above S B steps for which the dimer rows runs across the terrace.…”

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such vicinal surfaces exhibit a staircase morphology being crossed by a somewhat periodic array of steps. 4,13,14 Etching of such surfaces can produce step recession, during which it is commonly believed that the vacancies resulting from etching diffuse to and erode step edges. 4,5,10,12 This picture is consistent with that above of vacancy-diffusion mediated etch pit formation on flat surfaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Simultaneous etching and oxidation of vicinal Si(100) surfaces: Atomistic lattice-gas modeling of morphological evolution

et al. 2005

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Exposure of a vicinal Si(100) surface to oxygen at about 10−8Torr for temperatures between about 500 and 700°C produces etching-mediated step recession in competition with oxide island formation. Furthermore, the oxide islands can locally pin the receding steps and thus produce complex surface morphologies. An atomistic lattice-gas model is developed to describe these processes which accounts for the complex interplay between the oxygen surface chemistry and the silicon surface and step dynamics. The oxygen relatedprocesses include dissociative adsorption, diffusion, oxide formation, and etching via SiO desorption. The silicon surface processes include: conversion of single vacancies formed by etching to divacancies and Si adatoms, anisotropic diffusion and aggregation (primarily at step edges) of these divacancies and Si adatoms, and Si ad-dimer attachment-detachment dynamics at steps which reflects anisotropic energetics. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of this model allows characterization of the evolving step morphologies. Steps retain some qualitative features of their equilibrium structure, i.e., alternating rough SB steps and smooth SA steps, although etching tends to produce step pairing, and pinning produces protruding "finger" morphologies. These morphological features are seen in scanning tnneling microscopy studies. We also comment on other aspects of evolution such as a mixed pit nucleation and step flow mode, and compare behavior with step flow type growth during Si molecular beam epitaxy. Exposure of a vicinal Si͑100͒ surface to oxygen at about 10 −8 Torr for temperatures between about 500 and 700°C produces etching-mediated step recession in competition with oxide island formation. Furthermore, the oxide islands can locally pin the receding steps and thus produce complex surface morphologies. An atomistic lattice-gas model is developed to describe these processes which accounts for the complex interplay between the oxygen surface chemistry and the silicon surface and step dynamics. The oxygen related-processes include dissociative adsorption, diffusion, oxide formation, and etching via SiO desorption. The silicon surface processes include: conversion of single vacancies formed by etching to divacancies and Si adatoms, anisotropic diffusion and aggregation ͑primarily at step edges͒ of these divacancies and Si adatoms, and Si ad-dimer attachment-detachment dynamics at steps which reflects anisotropic energetics. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of this model allows characterization of the evolving step morphologies. Steps retain some qualitative features of their equilibrium structure, i.e., alternating rough S B steps and smooth S A steps, although etching tends to produce step pairing, and pinning produces protruding "finger" morphologies. These morphological features are seen in scanning tnneling microscopy studies. We also comment on other aspects of evolution such as a mixed pit nucleation and step flow mode, and compare behavior with step flow type growth during Si molecular beam epitaxy.

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Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Further Characterization Of the Vicinal Si"100… + Oxygenmentioning

confidence: 99%