Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

We have applied ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with Si 2p chemical shifts to study the real-time dry oxidation of Si(100), using pressures in the range of 0.01-1 Torr and temperatures of 300-530 oC, and examining the oxide thickness range from 0 to ~;;25 Angstrom. The oxidation rate is initially very high (with rates of up to ~;;225 Angstrom/h) and then, after a certain initial thickness of the oxide in the range of 6-22 Angstrom is formed, decreases to a slow state (with rates of ~;;1.5-4.0 Angstrom/h). Neither the rapid nor the slow regime is explained by the standard Deal-Grove model for Si oxidation.