Field-induced cathodic oxidation of low-energy Ar-ion-bombarded silicon by AFM

Local oxidation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was studied on a 3 keV Argon (Ar)-ion-bombarded silicon (Si) (100) substrate. Giant oxide features higher than 100 nm were patterned by applying positive voltages to the tip with respect to the substrate. To analyze the growth rate of oxide features, we used the power-of-time law model. The growth rate of oxide features on an Ar-ion beam-bombarded silicon surface was increased approximately 1.8-fold compared to a common silicon surface. Furthermore, we obtained that the heights of oxide features increased as the exposure time to the tip decreased and the scan area increased. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.