Self-limiting oxidation of SiGe alloy on silicon-on-insulator wafers

Self-limiting oxidation of SiGe alloy on silicon-on-insulator wafers was investigated. For oxidation at 1000°C, oxidation stops completely after a few hours for the Si1−xGex (x=0.068–0.16) layers. For higher initial Ge concentrations of the SiGe layer, the oxidation saturated in a shorter oxidation time, whereas saturation was not observed for the oxidation at 900 and 1100°C. The authors propose a model for self-limiting oxidation, in which the oxidation saturation is governed by an interfacial Ge-rich layer that depends on the oxidation temperature and the initial Ge concentration.