Pressure dependence of oxide growth rate on silicon and metal silicides

Si 2p photoemission was used to determine the relative oxidation rates for Si(111), Ru2Si3 and CoSi2. Samples were thermally oxidized at 750°C with oxygen pressures varying from 1 × 10-1 to 1 Torr. The results confirm that CoSi2 and Ru2Si3 oxidize faster than Si(111) at "hight" pressures, but reveal the surprising feature that the growth of SiO2 is faster on Si at pressures below 1 × 10-4 Torr. © 1991.