Characterization of SiO2 layers thermally grown on 4H-SiC using high energy photoelectron spectroscopy

Si 2p and C 1s core level spectra recorded at different electron emission a ngles from SiO2/SiC samples using a photon energy of 3.0 keV show two compo nents. These are identified as originating from SiO2 and SiC for Si 2p whil e for C 1s they are identified to originate from graphite like carbon and S iC. The relative intensity of these components are extracted and compared t o calculated intensity variations assuming different models for the element al distribution in the surface region. For both samples investigated best a greement between experimental and calculated intensity variations with emis sion angle is obtained when assuming a graphite like layer on top of the ox ide layer. Contribution from carbon at the SiC/SiO2 interface could not be identified. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.