Controlling the Low-Temperature Ionic Purification of a Silicon Surface by Electron Spectroscopy

Abstract A comparative study is carried out for etching a surface with negative and positive ions, and the results show completely opposite physical processes occur on a silicon surface. Irradiation with positive ions exhibits oxide removal, while irradiation with negative ions shows an intense oxidation of the sample surface. Technology for low-temperature ion cleaning and the electron-spectrometric control of silicon wafers has been developed. This technology has been shown that only irradiation with caesium ions followed by annealing at 650 °C leads to an atomically clean silicon surface for several minutes, which is dependent on the pressure of residual gases under vacuum. After cleaning in a vacuum of 10-9 Pa, the silicon surface begins to oxidize again within 10 min.