Steady state oxygen surface content in oxygen sputtered silicon at impact energy of 5 keV per atom

A method is presented for the calculation of the oxygen surface concentrati on in steady state when sputtering silicon and silicon oxides with oxygen i ons. The case of sputtering with 5 keV oxygen atoms as a function of incide nce angle has been studied. Measurements of erosion rates under the mention ed sputtering conditions, including oxygen and noble gases as primary ions, with and without oxygen flooding, are the input data. The dependence of th e component sputtering yield of silicon on the oxygen surface concentration is also obtained, as well as the preferential sputtering ratio. These quan tities, from the point of view of the calculation work frame, depend on the degree of oxygen supersaturation (oxygen atomic fraction >2/3) at the surf ace in normal incidence. The possibility of supersaturation is a result of our assumptions and its level can be estimated within a narrow range. (C) 2 001 American Institute of Physics.