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Amorphous Silica (SiO2): Bulk and Interfacial Thin Film

Oxygen in SiO2 and interfacial oxide
bulk SiO2 has a spectrum with a strong first peak, mostly derived from p-states in the oxygen conduction band. The spectrum from the Si/SiO2 interface is more of a featureless step function due to the reduced number of O-O second neighbors. The edge onset is reduced 3, consistent with the difference in conduction band onsets for Si and SiO2

By: David Muller

Microscope: VG HB 501UX STEM

Energy Resolution: 0.9eV

Reference: “The electronic structure at the atomic scale of ultra-thin gate oxides”, D. A. Muller, T. Sorsch, S. Moccio, F. H. Baumann and G. Timp, Nature399, 758-761 (1999).