A Growth Kinetics Model for the Radical Oxidation of Silicon

The silicon oxide growth kinetics were investigated for single wafer rapid thermal (RTP) and large batch vertical furnace radical oxidation processes under varying conditions. An oxidation model is proposed in which the oxidation rate of hydrogen–assisted radical oxidation is a combination of constant–rate low pressure wet oxidation and an oxygen radical driven process decaying with increasing oxide thickness. The model parameters for selected RTP and batch furnace oxidation processes are extracted and discussed. The implications of this model are compared to observed properties of the radical oxidation process like lattice orientation, stress independence, bird’s beak formation and thickness uniformity.