An important reason for the dominance of crystal silicon in electronics is the quality of its natural oxide. Silicon dioxide forms a glass film on the crystal, with an atomically abrupt interface between them. At the ordinary operating temperatures of the devices, it is mechanically stable, electrically insulating and chemically protective. Germanium and gallium arsenide, materials whose inherent electrical properties are superior to those of silicon, are at a disadvantage because of the inferior properties of their oxides: Germanium dioxide is water soluble, and the oxidation of gallium arsenide produces metallic precipitates.
REFERENCES
1.
F. J. Feigl, in Materials and Process Characterization, vol. 6 of VLSI Electronics: Microstructure Science, N. Einspruch, G. Larrabee, eds., Academic, New York (1983), p. 147. This review contains references to work described in this article.
2.
O. J. Krivanek, D. C. Tsui, T. T. Sheng, A. Kramgar, in The Physics of and Its Interfaces, S. T. Pantelides, ed., Pergamon, New York (1978), p. 356.
3.
W.‐K. Chu, J. M. Mayer, M.‐A. Nicolet, Backscattering Spectrometry, Academic, New York (1978), p. 243.
4.
A.
Ourmazd
, J. C.
Bean
, J. C.
Phillips
, Phys. Rev. Lett.
55
, 1599
(1985
).5.
6.
S. T. Pantelides, M. Long, in The Physics of and Its Interfaces, S. T. Pantelides, ed., Pergamon, New York (1978), p. 339.
7.
P. J. Grunthaner, M. H. Hecht, F. J. Grunthaner, N. M. Johnson, to be published in J. Appl. Phys.
An important early reference is
F. J.
Grunthaner
, P. J.
Grunthaner
, R. P.
Vasquez
, B. F.
Lewis
, J.
Maserjian
, A.
Madhukar
, Phys. Rev. Lett.
43
, 1638
(1979
).8.
9.
D. J.
DiMaria
, M. V.
Fischetti
, E.
Tierney
, S. D.
Brorson
, Phys. Rev. Lett.
56
, 1284
(1986
).10.
M. V.
Fischetti
, D. J.
DiMaria
, S. D.
Brorson
, T. N.
Theis
, J. R.
Kirtley
, Phys. Rev. B
31
, 8124
(1985
).11.
J. R. Davis, Instabilities in MOS Devices, Gordon and Breach, New York (1981).
12.
E. H. Nicollian, J. R. Brews, MOS Physics and Technology, Wiley, New York (1982).
13.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 1986 American Institute of Physics.
1986
American Institute of Physics
You do not currently have access to this content.
