The dielectric properties associated with the electronic and bonding structures of SiO2 films were examined using the Si L3,2- and O K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structures (XANES) and valence-band photoemission spectroscopy (VB-PES) techniques. The Si L3,2- and O K-edge XANES measurements for the low-temperature grown UV-photon oxidized SiO2 (UV-SiO2) and the conventional high-temperature thermal-oxidized SiO2 (TH-SiO2) suggest enhancement of O 2p–Si 3p hybridization in UV-SiO2. VB-PES measurements reveal enhancement of nonbonding O 2p and O 2p–Si 3p hybridized states. The enhanced O 2p and Si 3p hybridization implies a shortening of the average Si–O bond length, which explains an increase of the density and the improvement of the dielectric property of UV-SiO2.
Relation:
Journal of Applied Physics 103(1), pp.013704(4 pages)
