Thermal oxidation of silicon studied by high resolution Rutherford backscattering

Rutherford backscattering provides a simple experimental technique for investigating the thermal oxidation of silicon containing heavy impurity species. The technique provides both mass and depth analysis of para-surface layers. Using conventional apparatus, typical depth resolution is 250Å N. This paper describes a simple method of improving the resolution to ～25 Å. The method is then illustrated with data on the analysis of thin (<300Å) layers of thermally oxidised silicon containing ion-implanted impurities. The effect of the type and dose of implanted ions on oxidation rate has been measured. The re-distribution of implanted ions during thermal oxidation is also investigated.