Low temperature growth of SiO2 films on Si(100) using a hot molecular beam of tetraethoxysilane

Thin films of SiO2 on Si(100) at 300 < T < 700 K were grown by the decomposition of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Gaseous TEOS was admitted to the Si(100) crystal via a dosing tube heated at 870–1070 K allowing TEOS to decompose at the Si surface and the pressure in the system to stay below 5 × 10−7 mbar. The growth of SiO2 was monitored by photoelectron spectroscopy of Si 2p, O 1s and C 1s core level peaks for a number of different conditions. The present demonstration of low temperature chemical vapor deposition of SiO2 may be useful for preparing dielectric films on highly integrated device structures without degrading structural aspect ratios.