ROUGHENING OF A SI(100) SURFACE-INDUCED BY THE ADSORPTION OF OXYGEN NEAR THE SOLID-OXIDE NUCLEATION THRESHOLD

An investigation of the processes on a Si(100) surface interacting wit h oxygen near the solid-oxide nucleation threshold using x-ray photoel ectron spectroscopy and atomic-force microscopy is described. The nucl eation threshold is the boundary between the temperature and oxygen pr essure regions where a phase transition with the formation of a submon olayer oxide and a roughening transition caused by oxygen adsorption o ccur. Near the nucleation threshold, either a random rough relief or a quasiperiodic structure is formed on a surface coated with chemisorbe d oxygen. The formation of the rough relief due to oxygen adsorption h as been interpreted within the theory of phase transitions as a result of vacancy clustering. A model that allows one to describe the dynami cs of processes on the surface near the nucleation threshold in qualit ative and in some cases in quantitative terms has been suggested. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.