In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry study of the electron cyclotron resonance plasma oxidation of silicon and interfacial damage

The growth of SiO2 films on Si and the evolution of interfacial damage resulting from electron cyclotron resonance plasma oxidation was studied using in situ during process spectroscopic ellipsometry. Accelerated growth under positive substrate bias indicates that negative atomic species dominate the growth above an oxide thickness of 4 nm. Below this thickness bias appears less important. The interfacial damage is different in both nature and extent from that caused by ions with higher energies. It appears that the damage layer is composed of SiO2 with a-Si and is due to the oxidation reaction rather than the ions from the plasma.