Low temperature growth of silicon dioxide using hydrogenation assisted nano-crystallization and plasma enhanced oxidation

Abstract We report the preparation and characterization of high quality silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) layers from nano-structured silicon thin films on silicon substrates at a maximum processing temperature of 350 °C. Hydrogenation-assisted plasma processing was used to prepare nano-porous silicon from amorphous silicon films and a subsequent plasma enhanced oxidation step converted the nano-crystalline silicon into silicon dioxide. The nano-structured materials were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Metal–oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices were prepared and the electrical properties of the oxide layer were investigated by current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements. The composition of the SiO x films was found to be near stoichiometry with a value of ‘ x ’ equal to 1.95 ± 0.18 and a dielectric constant of 3.8 ± 0.2. The leakage current in MOS capacitive devices was well below 1 nA.