Room temperature plasma oxidation in DCSBD: A new method for preparation of silicon dioxide films at atmospheric pressure

In this paper a new process for the preparation of thin silicon dioxide (SiO2) film is presented: the oxidation of c-Si (1 1 1) surface in atmospheric pressure plasma at room temperature. Diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) at atmospheric pressure in air and oxygen atmosphere has been used. The oxidation rate and the thickness of oxidized layers were estimated by ellipsometry. The structure and the chemical composition of oxidized layers were investigated by infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the morphology of the layer surface. It was found that stoichiometric SiO2 layers were obtained with oxidation rates comparable to thermal oxidation.