Abstract

Of the various surfaces of crystalline silicon, Si (100) is industrially the most important and the formation of a stable oxide on this surface has allowed it to be used as the dominant material in modern semiconductor technology. Recently there has been a great deal of interest in steps on vicinal Si (100) since they are seen to play a central role in various chemical and physical processes including epitaxial growth, catalysis and oxide formation [1,2]. The study of stepped surfaces of Si (100) to date has been carried out primarily by conventional surface science techniques such as those based on electron diffraction or scanning tunneling microscopy, which normally require ultra high vacuum (UHV). However, over the last few years it has clearly been demonstrated that surface second harmonic generation (SHG) can be sensitive to the surface-vacuum interface as well as buried interfaces and can be used ”in situ” in various types of environments [3]. Our group and others have also shown that SHG can also be senstive to the presence of steps on oxidized or bare solid surface [4].

© 1992 Optical Society of America