Formation of high-density silicon dots on a silicon-on-insulator substrate

High-density and nanometer-scale Si dots were fabricated on a silicon-on-in sulator substrate by a non-lithography process, consisting of SiN island nu cleation and subsequent Si etching-mode oxidation in a vacuum. It was found from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy that, du ring oxidation, the SiN islands serve as oxidation masks, and only bare Si regions are etched by oxygen, resulting in formation of Si dots. The latera l size and the height of Si dot are primarily determined by the SST masks a nd thickness of the top Si layer, respectively. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B .V. All rights reserved.