Dynamics of the Reaction of Xenon Difluoride with Si(100)

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Professor Sylvia Ceyer and her colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are investigating the detailed dynamics of the etching of silicon surfaces by XeF2 and F2 etchant molecules. With the support of the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, this group is testing the hypothesis that large local lattice vibrational excitations on collision with the silicon surface lead to the enhanced reactivity of XeF2 etchant molecules, as compared to F2 or F etchants. Comparisons of the molecular beam scattering of XeF2 and van der Waals bound Xe(F2) complexes are made, and the details of the energy transfer and reaction process are mapped out. These dynamic surface reactivity studies are designed to provide fundamental insights into the process of silicon etching. The effect of local lattice vibrational excitation on the reactivity of XeF2 for the etching of silicon is examined in this research project. The enhanced reactivity of XeF2 compared to F2 may be related to the lattice excitation that results on collision of the massive XeF2 species with the silicon surface. Direct comparison of the dynamics, using molecular beam scattering methods, allow Professor Ceyer and her group at MIT to probe this hypothesis.