Photoemission study of the reactivity of barium towards SiOx thermal films

Barium was deposited at room temperature on a thermal silicon oxide layer and the interfacial reaction was monitored by synchrotron induced photoemission (both core level and valence band). The first step of the growth consists of an interfacial reaction which leads to the formation of an interfacial silicate layer. The next step consists in formation of barium oxide while metallic barium occurs subsequently. The deposit can be also homogenized by annealing above 575 K. This results in the formation of several layers of silicate by consumption of silicon oxide. In the case of fractional coverage, subsequent annealing at 975 K induces the decomposition of barium silicate. However, such a decomposition process is strongly dependent on the initial film thickness. It can be avoided for deposits thicker than 3 eqML.