Backbond Oxidation of the Si(001) Surface: Narrow Channel of Barrierless Oxidation

Oxidation of the Si(001) surface was studied by the first principles calculation technique with spin-polarized gradient approximation. We have clarified the apparent barrierless reaction mechanism of the backbond oxidation of the surface Si by incoming O₂ molecules. An O₂ molecule does not attack directly the backbond but the oxidation occurs via metastable chemisorption states on the Si surface. We have also found that the triplet-to-singlet spin conversion is crucial in explaining the incident energy dependence of the sticking probability of O₂ molecules.