Defect formation in thermal SiO2 by high-temperature annealing

Abstract

The formation of voids (or holelike defects) in 500-Å-thick thermal oxide films on Si(100) due to thermal decomposition of SiO2 during vacuum annealing at high temperatures (>1050 °C) has been studied as a function of temperature and time. The defect size distribution is sharply peaked and the density of the defects is essentially independent of annealing time. These observations suggest strongly that the void formation process is initiated at defect sites which are already present after oxidation. The kinetics of oxide void growth suggest the presence of a nucleation stage of the reaction prior to void growth.