On the influence of the surface roughness onto the ultrathin SiO2/Si structure properties

The surface roughness of the semiconductor substrate substantially influences properties of the whole semiconductor/oxide structure. SiO2/Si structures were prepared by using low temperature nitric acid oxidation of silicon (NAOS) method and then the whole structure was passivated by the cyanidization procedure. The influence of the surface morphology of the silicon substrate onto the electrical properties of ultrathin NAOS SiO2 layer was investigated. Surface height function properties were studied by the AFM method and electrical properties were studied by the STM method. The complexity of analyzed surface structure was sensitive to the oxidation and passivation steps. For describing changes in the oxide layer structure, several fractal measures in an analysis of the STM images were used. This fractal geometry approach enables quantifying the fine spatial changes in the tunneling current spectra.