The optical and electrical properties of ultrathin (8-12 nm) SiO₂ layers thermally grown at 850 ^oC on rf-hydrogen plasma-cleaned Si studied and are compared with those of oxides grown on standard RCA-cleaned Si. The structural characterization was performed using spectral ellipsometry and IR techniques. IR data was used for computer simulation of oxide structure. Characterization of electrically active defects has been performed by frequency dependent C-V technique. From the analysis of the pseudo-dielectric function of Si the oxidation-induced stress was evaluated. Its level was in the order of 10⁸ N/m² and was substantially smaller in plasma treated samples. An analysis of the IR spectra has shown that the structure of SiO₂ grown on hydrogenated silicon possesses a contribution of 4- and 6-fold SiO₄ tetrahedra rings. The structure of the standard oxides contains an additional contribution of SiO₂Si₂ molecular complexes. Their presence leads to increase of the distances between neighbouring Si atoms and to increase of stresses in SiO₂ lattice. Electrical measurements of such structures have also revealed larger densities of interface defects (fixed oxide charge and interface traps). This is in correlation with content of SiO₂Si₂ clusters, which are known to contribute to the fixed oxide charge.

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