EFFECT OF HUMIDITY AND ELECTRIC FIELD ON THE PROCESS OF LOCAL ANODIC OXIDATION OF THE Si(111) SURFACE BY AN AFM PROBE
D. V. Shcheglov, L. I. Fedina, A. V. Latyshev
Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: atomic force microscopy, silicon surface, local anodic oxidation
Abstract
Local anodic oxidation (LAO) of the Si(111) surface in the contact mode of an atomic force microscope (AFM) is studied depending on the relative humidity of the ambience - (35-75)% at two potentials U (-8 and -10 V) applied to the AFM probe. It is shown that LAO for U = -8V is realized at Θ ≥ 40% in the absence of growth of oxide lines in width; at U = -10V, their height and width increase linearly over the entire range of Θ values. Based on a detailed analysis of LAO and the deviation of the cantilever during the approach and retraction of the probe from the surface with variation of Θ without voltage on the probe, taking into account literature data for the semi-contact mode of AFM operation, a generalized model of the dependence of the LAO process on U and Θ is proposed.
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