Kinetics of plasma oxidation of germanium-tin (GeSn)

The kinetics of plasma oxidation of GeSn at low temperature is investigated. The oxidation process is described by a power-law model where the oxidation rate decreases rapidly from the initial oxidation rate with increasing time. The oxidation rate of GeSn is higher than that of pure Ge, which can be explained by the higher chemical reaction rate at the GeSn-oxide/GeSn interface. In addition, the Sn atoms at the interface region exchange positions with the underlying Ge atoms during oxidation, leading to a SnO2-rich oxide near the interface. The bandgap of GeSn oxide is extracted to be 5.1 ± 0.2 eV by XPS, and the valence band offset at the GeSn-oxide/GeSn heterojunction is found to be 3.7 ± 0.2 eV. Controlled annealing experiments demonstrate that the GeSn oxide is stable with respect to annealing temperatures up to 400 °C. However, after annealing at 450 °C, the GeO2 is converted to GeO, and desorbs from the GeSn-oxide/GeSn, leaving behind Sn oxide.