Preparation of atomically flat Si(111)-H surfaces in aqueous ammonium fluoride solutions investigated by using electrochemical, in situ EC-STM and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic methods

Abstract

Electrochemical, in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope (EC-STM), and attenuated total reflectance-FTIR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic methods were employed to investigate the preparation of atomically flat Si(111)-H surface in ammonium fluoride solutions. Electrochemical properties of atomically flat Si(111)-H surface were characterized by anodic oxidation and cathodic hydrogen evolution with the open circuit potential (OCP) of ca. -0.4 V in concentrated ammonium fluoride solutions. As soon as the natural oxide-covered Si(111) electrode was immersed in fluoride solutions, OCP quickly shifted to near -1 V, which was more negative than the flat band potential of silicon surface, indicating that the surface silicon oxide had to be dissolved into the solution. OCP changed to become less negative as the oxide layer was being removed from the silicon surface. In situ EC-STM data showed that the surface was changed from the initial oxide-covered silicon to atomically rough hydrogen-terminated surface and then to atomically flat hydrogen-terminated surface as the OCP moved toward less negative potentials. The atomically flat Si(111)-H structure was confirmed by in situ EC-STM and ATR-FTIR data. The dependence of atomically flat Si(111)-H terrace on mis-cut angle was investigated by STM, and the results agreed with those anticipated by calculation. Further, the stability of Si(111)-H was checked by STM in ambient laboratory conditions.