A soft x-ray photoemission study of the chemisorption and reaction of diethylsilane on Si(100)

Soft x-ray synchrotron radiation was utilized as the excitation source in a high-resolution photoemission experiment on chemisorption and subsequent reaction of diethylsilane on the Si(100) surface. We have found that diethylsilane chemisorbs dissociatively to form Si-CH2CH3 surface species on Si(100) following a room temperature exposure. These species are identified by two very sharp peaks observed in the valence band spectra positioned at 17.9 and 14.3 eV binding energy. In addition, C 1s core level spectra, measured following exposures of Si(100) substrates as a function of surface temperature, show that carbon, in some form, exists on the Si surface following exposures at every temperature from room temperature to about 600C. While only -CH2CH3, ethyl groups are observed on the surface at room temperature, these species appear to partially dehydrogenate at 300C, producing a mixture of -CH2CH3 groups and other intermediate carbonaceous species. At a growth temperature of about 400C the intermixing of elemental carbon with Si begins. At higher temperatures, we observe the continued degradation of diethylsilane to produce a Si + C alloy on the surface at 600C. Results indicate that diethylsilane has potential as a molecular precursor for SiC formation by chemical vapor deposition techniques