The local cathodoluminescence method was used to study the characteristics of the SiO2-Si interface, the change of its properties during oxidation, and the influence of the type of Si conductivity on its properties. This work showed that the first phase of Si oxidation was the formation of amorphous Si layers on the Si surface and the appearance of Si clusters in the natural silicon oxide. Cathodoluminescence gives the possibility of finding the presence of point defects in silicon oxide and Si and of studying the distribution of such defects on the surface and in the depth.

Cathodoluminescence Study of Silicon Oxide-Silicon Interface. M.V.Zamoryanskaya, V.I.Sokolov: Semiconductors, 2007, 41[4], 462-8