Atomic O and H exposure of C-covered and oxidized d-metal surfaces

Carbon coverage, oxidation and reduction of Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Cu, Ru, Ni and Co layers of 1.5 nm thickness on Mo have been characterized with ARPES and desorption spectroscopy upon exposure to thermal H and O radicals. We observe that only part of the carbon species is chemically eroded by atomic H exposure, yielding hydrocarbon desorption. Exposure to atomic O yields complete carbon erosion and CO₂ and H₂O desorption. A dramatic increase in metallic and non-metallic oxide is observed for especially Ni and Co surfaces, while for Au and Cu, the sub-surface Mo layer is much more oxidized. Although volatile oxides exist for some of the d-metals, there is no indication of d-metal erosion. Subsequent atomic H exposure reduces the clean oxides to a metallic state under desorption of H₂O. Due to its adequacy, we propose the atomic oxygen and subsequent atomic hydrogen sequence as a candidate for contamination removal in practical applications like photolithography at 13.5 nm radiation.     

Growth and sacrificial oxidation of transition metal nanolayers

Growth and oxidation of Au, Pt, Pd, Rh, Cu, Ru, Ni and Co layers of 0.3-4.3 nm thickness on Mo have been investigated with ARPES and AFM. Co and Ni layers oxidize while the Mo remains metallic. For nobler metals, the on top O and oxidation state of subsurface Mo increase, suggesting sacrificial e⁻ donation by Mo. Au and Cu, in spite of their significantly lower surface free energy, grow in islands on Mo and actually promote Mo oxidation. Applications of the sacrificial oxidation in nanometer thin layers exist in a range of nanoscopic devices, such as nano-electronics and protection of e.g. multilayer X-ray optics for astronomy, medicine and lithography.