The interaction of silanes with silicon single crystal surfaces: microscopic processes and structures

This article gives an overview of the interaction of silanes with silicon single crystal surfaces at the atomic level. The various processes that lead to layer formation, including adsorption, dissociation via several intermediate steps, interaction of the dissociation products and island formation, as well as the formation of growth structures are discussed in detail. After a brief description of clean and hydrogen-covered silicon surfaces we turn to the interaction of silicon hydrides (SiH4, Si2H6, Si3H8) with Si(1 0 0)-(2×1) and Si(1 1 1)-(7×7), from adsorption to homoepitaxial layer formation. This is followed by a section on chlorosilanes, where we give particular attention to processes due to the presence of Cl atoms in these molecules. The topographic information is discussed in correlation with the kinetics of precursor decomposition and island formation in these systems. The following section focuses on kinetic models for growth from precursor molecules. The predictions of those models are compared with experimental results. This article closes with a review of surface structures and processes associated with tetraethoxysilane and a variety of other substituted silanes.