Patent ID: 6391748
Filing Date: 2002-05-21
Classification: C30B,H01L

Abstract:
A method for nucleating a nitride layer on a silicon substrate including the steps of:a) providing a silicon substrate; b) exposing said silicon substrate to a background nitrogen source to produce an ordered Siâ€”N surface phase at a surface of said silicon substrate; c) subjecting said silicon substrate surface to a flux of aluminum using MBE to cause aluminum atoms to bond to said ordered Siâ€”N surface phase, thereby producing a plurality of Siâ€”Nâ€”Al islands; d) subjecting said silicon substrate surface to a flux of nitrogen using MBE to produce an additional ordered Siâ€”N surface phase between said plurality of Siâ€”Nâ€”Al islands; and e) repeating steps b) and c) until said silicon substrate surface is substantially covered.