Abstract
X-ray reflectivity measurements of increasingly more complex interfaces involving silicon (001) substrates reveal the existence of a thin low-density layer intruding between the single-crystalline silicon and the amorphous native SiO2 terminating it. The importance of accounting for this layer in modeling silicon/liquid interfaces and silicon-supported monolayers is demonstrated by comparing fits of the measured reflectivity curves by models including and excluding this layer. The inclusion of this layer, with 6-8 missing electrons per silicon unit cell area, consistent with one missing oxygen atom whose bonds remain hydrogen passivated, is found to be particularly important for an accurate and high-resolution determination of the surface normal density profile from reflectivities spanning extended momentum transfer ranges, now measurable at modern third-generation synchrotron sources.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 12676-12681 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | ACS Nano |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 23 Dec 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2014 American Chemical Society.
Funding
Funders | Funder number |
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U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC02-76CH0016 |
Keywords
- X-ray reflectivity
- native silicon oxide
- self-Assembled monolayers
- thin films