Abstract
The transformation of micropits on large terraces of the Si(111) surface containing no vicinal atomic steps has been investigated by in situ ultrahigh-vacuum reflection electron microscopy upon thermal annealing of the substrate in the range of 1200–1400°C. A procedure for the formation of micropits on large terraces of the Si(111) surface with the application of focused-ion-beam (Ga+) technology has been proposed. It has been found that the micropit decay kinetics varies upon reaching the critical radius Rcrit, which is caused by the activation of nucleation of two-dimensional vacancy islands on the micropit bottom. A theoretical model describing variations in the lateral sizes of the micropit both before and after reaching Rcrit has been proposed. Based on analysis of the found temperature dependence of the nucleation frequencies of two-dimensional vacancy pits on the micropit bottom, the effective energy of nucleation of a vacancy island has been determined to be 4.1 ± 0.1 eV.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
A. V. Latyshev and A. L. Aseev, Monatomic Steps on the Silicon Surface (Sib. Otdel. RAN, Novosibirsk, 2006) [in Russian].
Y. Homma, H. Hibino, and T. Ogino, Phys. Rev. B 58, 146 (1998).
K. L. Man, A. B. Pang, and M. S. Altman, Surf. Sci. 601, 4669 (2007).
S. V. Sitnikov, S. S. Kosolobov, and A. V. Latyshev, Semiconductors 51, 203 (2017).
S. V. Sitnikov, A. V. Latyshev, and S. S. Kosolobov, J. Cryst. Growth 457, 196 (2015).
H. C. Kan, T. Kwon, and R. J. Phaneuf, Phys. Rev. B 77, 205401 (2008).
T. Kwon, R. J. Phaneuf, and H. Kan, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88, 071914 (2006).
K. Li, N. Pradeep, S. Chikkamaranahalli, G. Stan, R. Attota, J. Fu, and R. Silver, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 29, 41806 (2011).
K.-C. Chang and J. M. Blakely, Surf. Sci. 591, 133 (2005).
H.-C. Jeong and E. D. Williams, Surf. Sci. Rep. 34, 171 (1999).
T. Ogino, H. Hibino, and Y. Homma, Crit. Rev. Solid State Mater. Sci. 24, 227 (1999).
S. V. Sitnikov, S. S. Kosolobov, D. V. Shchegolov, and A. V. Latyshev, RF Patent No. 2453874 (2012).
C. A. Volkert and A. M. Minor, MRS Bull. 32, 389 (2007).
K. Takayanagi, Y. Tanishiro, M. Takahashi, and S. Takahashi, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 3, 1502 (1985).
A. Pimpinelli and J. Villain, Phys. A (Amsterdam, Neth.) 204, 521 (1994).
Y. Homma, N. Aizawa, and T. Ogino, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 35, L241 (1996).
Y. Homma, H. Hibino, T. Ogino, and N. Aizawa, Phys. Rev. B 55, R10237 (1997).
S. V. Sitnikov, S. S. Kosolobov, and A. V. Latyshev, Surf. Sci. 633, L1 (2015).
S. V. Sitnikov, S. S. Kosolobov, and A. V. Latyshev, Vestn. NGU 11, 94 (2016).
A. B. Pang, K. L. Man, M. S. Altman, T. J. Stasevich, F. Szalma, and T. L. Einstein, Phys. Rev. B 77, 115424 (2008).
C. Alfonso, J. C. Heyraud, and J. J. Metois, Surf. Sci. Lett. 291, 745 (1993).
J. M. Bermond, J. C. Heyraud, and C. Alfonso, Surf. Sci. 331–333, 855 (1995).
Y. Fukaya and Y. Shigeta, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5150 (2000).
V. Ignatescu and J. M. Blakely, Surf. Sci. 601, 5459 (2007).
J. Frenken, P. Maree, and J. van der Veen, Phys. Rev. B 34, 7506 (1986).
G. Grubel, D. Gibbs, D. Zehner, D. Abernathy, A. Sandy, and S. Mochrie, Surf. Sci. 287–288, 842 (1993).
B. Pluis, J. Frenken, and J. van der Veen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 2678 (1987).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work is performed using equipment of the JUC “Nanostructures”; model construction is supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation, project no. 14-22-00143.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated by N. Korovin
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Petrov, A.S., Sitnikov, S.V., Kosolobov, S.S. et al. Evolution of Micropits on Large Terraces of the Si(111) Surface during High-Temperature Annealing. Semiconductors 53, 434–438 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782619040237
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063782619040237