Oxynitridation of cubic silicon carbide (100) surfaces

The interaction of nitric oxide (NO) on Si-rich β-SiC(100) 3×2 surface reconstruction is investigated by photoemission spectroscopy using Al $Kα$ (1486.6 eV) and Zr $Mζ$ (151.4 eV) x-ray lines at Si $2p,$ C $1s,$ N $1s$ and O $1s$ core levels. NO exposures are performed at sample temperatures ranging from 25 to 1000 °C. The initial sticking coefficient of the NO molecules is found to be already significant at room temperature, with a dissociative adsorption resulting in Si oxynitride products as $SiOxNy.$ The amount of oxynitride is significantly increased at surface temperatures of 500 °C and above. In addition, temperature is found to favor the formation nitrogen-rich $SiOxNy$ oxynitride products. Thermal oxynitridation on the 3×2 reconstruction results in a $SiOxNy/β-SiC(100)$ interface.