A study of HMDSO/O-2 plasma deposits using a high-sensitivity and -energy resolution XPS instrument: curve fitting of the Si 2p core level

A quantitative X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of deposits formed from a microwave sustained hexamethyl disiloxane (HMDSO) plasma is u ndertaken. Curve fitting of the Si 2p core level has been achieved using co mponent peak binding energies determined from standard compounds. The pure HMDSO plasma deposit was dominated by Si(-O)(2) (44%) environments indicati ng a large proportion of siloxane bond formation in the plasma environment. The introduction of 200 seem (standard cubic centimetres per minute) of ox ygen to the plasma produced a deposit in which half the silicon atoms were co-ordinated with four oxygen atoms while the majority of the remaining sil icon was co-ordinated to three. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.