Claims
- 1. A low-temperature, charge-free process for forming a layer of a native oxide of a chosen material on the surface of a substrate of said chosen material, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing said substrate of said chosen material; and
- (b) exposing said surface of said substrate at a temperature within the range of about 30 to 300.degree. C. and a pressure below atmospheric pressure to an atmosphere comprising neutral, charge-free oxygen atoms as the primary oxidizing species and formed in a manner which eliminates the generation of charged particles or high energy radiation, to bring about a reaction between said oxygen atoms and said surface of said substrate to form said native oxide while simultaneously minimizing damage to said substrate caused by said charged particles or said high energy radiation and minimizing thermal damage to said substrate.
- 2. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein said oxygen atoms are generated by a photochemical reaction which produces oxygen solely in atomic form.
- 3. A low-temperature process for forming a layer of a native oxide of a chosen material on the surface of a substrate of said chosen material by a photochemical reaction, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing said substrate of said chosen material; and
- (b) exposing said surface of said substrate at a temperature within the range of about 30 to 300.degree. C. to photochemically generated neutral oxygen atoms as the primary oxidizing species, said oxygen atoms being formed by exposing a chosen oxygen-containing precursor at a pressure below atmospheric pressure to radiation of a selected wavelength to cause the direct dissociation of said precursor to form said oxygen atoms, whereby said oxygen atoms react with said surface of said substrate to form said native oxide and said neutral oxygen atoms are formed and said native oxide is formed in a manner which avoids damage to said substrate causes by exposure to charged particles or high energy radiation.
- 4. The process set forth in claim 3 wherein said oxygen-containing precursor is selected from the group consisting of: nitrous oxide (N.sub.2 O); nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2); and molecular oxygen (O.sub.2) under selected pressure and flow rate conditions.
- 5. The process set forth in claim 3 wherein said chosen material is selected from the group consisting of mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe), gallium aluminum arsenide (GaAlAs), indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs), indium gallium phosphide (InGaP), indium phosphide (InP), indium antimonide (InSb), gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium antimonide (GaSb), gallium phosphide (GaP), silicon (Si), and germanium (Ge).
- 6. The process set forth in claim 3 wherein:
- (a) said chosen material is indium phosphide (InP);
- (b) said oxygen-containing precursor is molecular oxygen under selected pressure and flow rate conditions; and
- (c) said selected wavelength of said radiation is 1849 .ANG..
- 7. A low-temperature process for forming a layer of a native oxide of a chosen material on the surface of a substrate of said chosen material while simultaneously minimizing damage to said substrate by charged species or high energy radiation, comprising the steps of:
- (a) photochemically generating neutral oxygen atoms at a pressure below atmospheric pressure; and
- (b) exposing said substrate at a temperature of about 30 to 300.degree. C. to said neutral oxygen atoms as the primary oxidizing species to cause a chemical reaction between said neutral oxygen atoms and said surface of said substrate to form said native oxide in a manner which avoids said damage to said substrate.
- 8. The process defined in claim 7 wherein the photochemical generation of said neutral oxygen atoms comprises the direct impingement of a selected oxygen-containing precursor with radiation of a selected wavelength sufficient to cause the direct dissociation of said precursor to generate said neutral oxygen atoms as the sole oxidizing species.
- 9. The process set forth in claim 7 wherein the photochemical generation of said neutral oxygen atoms comprises the mercury-photosensitized dissociation of a selected oxygen-containing precursor to form said neutral oxygen atoms.
- 10. A low-temperature process for forming a native oxide on a selected semiconductor material which comprises exposing said material at a temperature of about 30.degree. to 300.degree. C. to a selected oxygen-containing precursor which is irradiated at a pressure below atmospheric pressure with radiation of a predetermined wavelength and sufficient to release oxygen atoms from said precursor, whereby said oxygen atoms in turn react with said material to form said native oxide thereon.
- 11. The process set forth in claim 10 wherein said radiation causes the direction dissociation of said precursor to release said oxygen atoms.
- 12. The process set forth in claim 10 wherein said irradiation is performed in the presence of a selected photosensitizer to produce the dissociation of said precursor to release said oxygen atoms.
- 13. A low-temperature process for forming a native oxide on a substrate of a chosen semiconductor material which comprises:
- (a) providing a selected oxygen-containing precursor;
- (b) irradiating said precursor at a pressure below atmospheric pressure with radiation of a predetermined wavelength and sufficient to dissociate oxygen atoms therefrom; and then
- (c) reacting said oxygen atoms with said substrate at a temperature of about 30.degree. to 300.degree. C. to form said native oxide.
- 14. The process set forth in claim 13 wherein said precursor is selected from the group consisting of: nitrous oxide (N.sub.2 O); nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2); and molecular oxygen (O.sub.2) under selected pressure and flow rate conditions.
- 15. The process set forth in claim 13 wherein said irradiating is performed in the presence of a mercury photosensitizing agent.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 323,780, filed Nov. 23, 1981, abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4232057 |
Ray et al. |
Nov 1980 |
|
4265932 |
Peters et al. |
May 1981 |
|
4267205 |
Pastor et al. |
May 1981 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
38-21456 |
Oct 1963 |
JPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
Kern et al., "Advances in Deposition Processes for Passivation Films", J. Vac. Sci. Technol., vol. 14, pp. 1082-1099, 1977. |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
323780 |
Nov 1981 |
|