Controlled interfacial oxide formation within epitaxial (LaxY1–x)2O3/Si(111) heterostructures under UHV environments were reported. The results indicated that exposure of these epitaxial films to molecular O immediately after deposition resulted in the formation of an amorphous interfacial layer thicker than that expected when a bare Si surface was exposed to molecular O under the same conditions. The results implied the occurrence of significant O diffusion through the epitaxial dielectric, and reaction at the silicon–oxide interface.

Interfacial Oxide Formation and Oxygen Diffusion in Rare Earth Oxide–Silicon Epitaxial Heterostructures. V.Narayanan, S.Guha, M.Copel, N.A.Bojarczuk, P.L.Flaitz, M.Gribelyuk: Applied Physics Letters, 2002, 81[22], 4183-5