Energetics of crystalline silicon dioxide-silicon (SiO2/Si) interfaces

We consider the interface between a (100) silicon surface and several naturally occurring crystalline silicon dioxide (SiO{sub 2}-silica) polymorphs: {alpha}-quartz, {beta}-cristobalite, tridymite, and keatite. Using a classical empirical potential, we compute the strain energy required for epitaxy for each silica structure. Tridymite is the least energetically favorable epitaxial phase, followed by {alpha}-quartz, then {beta}-cristobalite, while the most energetically favorable phase is keatite. We discuss the implications of this for epitaxial growth, and the crystalline to amorphous transition within atomically thin silica layers.