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Constructionofthemodel
In plasmaanodization of silicon,therateofoxidationiscontrolled
by the flux of the oxidising species assumed to be the O ion
across the SiO2/Si interface. The rate of change of O ions wrt
timeisgivenas:
N(x,t)
2N(x,t)
N(x,t)
t = D x2 E(x, t) x + U (x, t)
where N(x,t) is the O concentration at time t and at distance x
from the SiO2plasma interface, D and arediffusion coefficient
and mobility of O ions respectively, E(x,t) is the electricfieldand
U(x,t) is therateofreactionofOionsatadistancexandattimet
asshown in Fig. 2.3 Then, the rate of oxide growth(thicknessw)
depends on the flux of O ions across the SiSiO2interfacei.e.at
x=w,whichcanbemathematicallywrittenas,
dw = 1 (w, t) ,where
dt
nO
(x, t) = D N(x,t)
x + E(x, t)N(x, t)
where nO is the number density of O atoms in SiO2, (x,t) is the
fluxofOionsatatdistancexandtimet.
In typical experimental conditions, the total constant current
density isaround 30300 mA cm2, a field E of ~106 Vcm1 and a
substrate temperature of 400600 o C. The exact electric fieldcan
be found out by solving the Poissons equation in the oxide. But
on finding out an (acceptable) approximate solution of the
Poissons equation, one can see that the gradient of the electric
field across the oxide is ~104 V cm2 which contributes negligibly
to the change in electric field over practical oxide thickness of
104cm. Moreover, the voltage across the electrodes follows the
oxidethicknessaccordingtoexperimentalobservations,which
TheaboveequationyieldsN(x)(showninFig.33)as,
N (x) = N oexp( xk
E ) withNo=numberofionsatx=0
fromwhich(x,t)canbecalculatedtogetdw/dtas,
dw = EN exp( xk )
o
dt
E
Solvingtheaboveequationwithinitialconditionw(0)=0gives,
Nok
w(t) = E
k ln(1 + nO t)
Challenges
Oneofthemajorchallengesthatisquitetalkedabout inliterature,
isthe problem of the damaging action of the high energy ions to
the oxide film. High energy ions may cause sputtering of oxide
film and retard film growth. To overcome this issue, we need a
precisecontroloverthebombardingenergywhichshouldbesuch
that it isnottoolowthatsurfaceactivationdoesnotoccurandnot
toohighthathighenergyionsdamageouroxidefilm.
Moreover,contaminationoftheoxidebyelectrodematerialisoften
observed especially in highvoltage DC glow discharges, even if
the sample is not directly facing the cathode. It has been
observed that the metal used as cathode plays an active role in
the quality/nature of oxide formed. A proposed solution to this
problem could be to use carbon cathode, but it is almost
impossibletoanodizeusingcarboncathodes.
Sometimes it isalsoobservedthatwhileusingalowpressureAC
glowdischargeusingeitherRF (afewMHz)ormicrowave (afew
GHz), the SiO2 grown possesses a high density of electronic
trapswhich can only be annealed at hightemperature(~1000oC)
thus negating the advantage of the lowtemperature growth
process.
Figure1.Variousparticlesimpingingonthesurfaceofthegrownoxide
Figure2.Thecoordinatexintheoxidelayeroxidethicknesswisafunctionoftime.
Figure3.O ionconcentrationprofileintheSiO2layerfortwodifferentreactiontimes.Fullline:profileatt1
dashedline:extensionofprofileatt2
[1]Gourrier,S.,andM.Bacal."Reviewofoxideformationinaplasma."Plasmachemistryandplasma
processing1.3(1981):218.
[2]Hasegawa,Isahiro,TakeshiYamauchi,andHideoSugai."MechanismofOxidationofSiSurfaces
ExposedtoO2/ArMicrowaveExcitedPlasma."Japanesejournalofappliedphysics46.1R(2007):98.
[3]Peeters,Jozef,andLiLi."Anewmodelfortheplasmaanodizationofsiliconatconstantcurrent."Journal
ofappliedphysics72.2(1992):719724.