Growth of nanoscale si nuclei on SiO2 by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition

In this work, the growth of nanoscale Si nuclei on SiO2 by means of a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition reactor is demon demonstrated. This has applications as an alternative to traditional lithographic methods to patte rning of surfaces at the nanometer-length scale. We have obtained appropria te process conditions to grow Si islands on SiO2 from the analysis of the g rowth rate, incubation time, and morphology of very thin Si films. Atomic f orce microscopy characterization of runs carried out under these conditions reveals that the properties of the resulting nuclei fit the requirements f or the fabrication of quantum dot based devices. (C) 1999 The Electrochemic al Society. S0013-4651(98)12-011-6. All rights reserved.