Characterization of silicon wafers through deposition of self-assembled monolayers

AFM imaging of the adsorption of self-assembled octadecylsiloxane (ODS) mon olayers has been utilized for probing surface properties of silicon wafers. Tt has been found that both growth rate of the organic films and island si ze of sub-monolayer films are influenced by the doping level of the wafers as well as by the surface finishing step during wafer production. Generally , higher doping levels led to lower adsorption rates and smaller islands. V ariation of the sample pretreatment used fur surface finishing of similarly doped wafers led only to significant changes of the island size, but not o f the surface coverage. The results presented open up a valuable perspectiv e for characterizing the surface homogeneity of silicon wafers which is an important parameter for monitoring-wafers in semiconductor industry.