Initial Stage of Oxidation of Hydrogen-Terminated Si(100)-2×1 Surface

The initial stage of SiO2/Si interface formation on an atomically flat hydrogen-terminated Si(100)-2×1 surface was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The following results were obtained: 1) the initial stage of interface formation does not depend on the initial surface morphology, 2) the interface layer becomes continuous at the oxide film thickness of 0.5 nm, and 3) at thicknesses greater than this the deviation from an atomically flat interface increases with the progress of oxidation, however, an abrupt compositional transition occurs.