A Model for Oxidation of Silicon by Oxygen

Insights into the transport and deposition of oxygen in silicon oxidation at 700/sup 0/C were obtained by isotope labeling and use of the ion microprobe mass analyzer for profiling. The results are consistent with interstitial diffusion of O/sub 2/ as the prime support of the interfacial oxidation reaction. Vacancy migration was observed near the surface with a very low diffusion coefficient. The SiO/sub 2/-Si interface is found to be diffuse with the interface reaction following a perfusive-precipitation model. This model is shown to explain the profile features observed and agrees well with literature data for diffusion coefficient and rate of reaction with silicon. 17 references, 2 figures, 1 table.