The effectiveness of Boron Carbo-Nitride in preventing oxidation by Hafnium Oxide to Germanium

1. The effectiveness of Boron Carbo-Nitride in preventing oxidation by Hafnium Oxide to Germanium By: Katie Jaycox Mentor: Ryan Fitzpatrick

5. Once the sample was prepared it was transferred to a different chamber where a technique called X-Ray Photon Spectroscopy (XPS) was performed in order to take a depth profile of the sample and look for oxidation which would occur if the BCN layer had not protected the Germanium from the preceding layer of Hafnium-Oxide. This was done by exciting particles in the sample so that they would emit an electron sized photon and their energy could be measured by the XPS machine. An ion gun was used in order to execute a technique called sputtering where layers of the sample were stripped away in order to allow for further study of layers below the surface (i.e.. BCN and Germanium layers). Argon gas was used to aide in the sputtering process because it is non-reactive. A 3X3 surface was analyzed.

6. XPS technique measures the Kinetic energy of a photon (hv) leaving the sample. Kinetic energy is associated with a specific atomic orbital and is useful in detecting and identifying what the chemical states of elements. The following equation is necessary in understanding XPS where Ke is kinetic energy and Be is binding energy: Ke = hv – Be

7. Shifts in key elements, such as Germanium and Oxygen were looked at to see if there were any shifts in the binding energy between the two. Carbon was looked at as an indicator of charging, which can also effect shifts, because it is consistently found to be at 285. It was also used as a marker for how far into the experiment we had sputtered.