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Preparation of atomically clean and flat Si(100) surfaces by low-energy ion sputtering and low-temperature annealing

J. C. Kim·J. -Y. Ji·J. S. Kline·J. R. Tucker·T. -C. Shen
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Abstract

Si(100) surfaces were prepared by wet-chemical etching followed by 0.3-1.5keV Ar ion sputtering, either at elevated or room temperature. After a brief anneal under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, the resulting surfaces were examined by scanning tunneling microscopy. We find that wet-chemical etching alone cannot produce a clean and flat Si(100) surface. However, subsequent 300eV Ar ion sputtering at room temperature followed by a 973K anneal yields atomically clean and flat Si(100) surfaces suitable for nanoscale device fabrication.

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J. C. Kim, J. -Y. Ji, J. S. Kline, J. R. Tucker, T. -C. Shen. 2003-06-15. Preparation of atomically clean and flat Si(100) surfaces by low-energy ion sputtering and low-temperature annealing. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0169-4332(03)00826-2

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