Self-limiting chemical vapor deposition of an ultra-thin silicon oxide film using tri-(tert-butoxy)silanol

Tri-(tert-butoxy)silanol (tBOS) rapidly forms a self-limited ∼10-Å-thick silicon oxide film upon exposure to a Si(100)-2×1 surface at 300 K. The majority of hydrocarbon spontaneously desorbs at this temperature. Heating to ∼700 K removes the remaining tert-butoxy groups. The films were characterized by conventional X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), synchrotron XPS of the Si 2p core-level and valence band regions, and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS). © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.