The stability, with respect to air exposure, of the dimer structure which formed on Si(100) during ultra-clean low-pressure chemical vapor deposition was investigated. By means of reflection high-energy electron diffraction, a 2 x 1 reconstructed dimer structure was clearly observed on an epitaxial Si film on Si(100); even after air exposure for 3h. The dissociation process of the dimer structure, and the oxidation process in air, depended upon the cooling atmosphere in the reactor after chemical-vapor deposition as well as upon the humidity of the air. It was proposed that dissociation of the dimer structure in air was suppressed by H adsorption, and coincided with the oxidation of H-terminated or dangling bonds due to H2O adsorption.

M.Sakuraba, J.Murota, S.Ono: Journal of Applied Physics, 1994, 75[7], 3701-3