Early stages of oxide growth in H-terminated silicon nanowires: determination of kinetic behavior and activation energy

Silicon nanowires (Si NWs) terminated with hydrogen atoms exhibit higher activation energy under ambient conditions than equivalent planar Si(100). The kinetics of sub-oxide formation in hydrogen-terminated Si NWs derived from the complementary XPS surface analysis attribute this difference 10 to the Si-Si backbond and Si-H bond propagation which controls the process at lower temperatures (T< 200C). At high temperatures (200 C), the activation energy was similar due to self-retarded oxidation. This finding offers the understanding of early-stage oxide growth that affects the 15 conductance of the near-gap channels leading towards more efficient Si NW electronic devices