Chlorination of Si surfaces with gaseous hydrogen chloride at elevated temperatures

Silicon wafers of different orientations were treated with gaseous hydrogen chloride at elevated temperatures in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor to generate chlorinated surfaces. After the chlorination process, a smooth surface morphology with single layer steps was observed on Si(1 1 1) surfaces. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Rutherford backscattering (RBS) measurements showed that the chlorine coverage is directly affected by the Si surface orientation. The surface chlorine is highly reactive with moisture and alcoholic compounds, which provides a new route for organic molecular functionalization of silicon surfaces.