Spectroscopic ellipsometry and electrical studies of as-grown and rapid thermal oxidized Si1-x-yGexCy films

Transmission electron microscopy results showed the formation of SiC precipitation in a rapid thermally oxidized (RTO) Si1-x-yGexCy sample with high-C content. The spectroscopic ellipsometry results showed that the E-1 gap increased and E-2 gap decreased as the C concentration increased. For the oxidized samples, the amplitude of the E-2 transitions reduced rapidly and the E-1 transition shifted to a lower energy. The reduction in the E-2 transitions was due to the presence of the oxide layer. A high-Ge content layer and the low-C content in the RTO films accounted for the E-1 shift to lower energy. The electrical measurements showed that RTO at 800 degreesC did not improve the oxide quality as compared to 1000 degreesC. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.