Angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of GeO_x growth by plasma post-oxidation

The growth process of GeO_x films formed by plasma post-oxidation(PPO) at room temperature(RT) is investigated using angle-resolved x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(AR-XPS). The experimental results show that the distributions of the Ge~(4+)states, a mixture of the Ge_(2+)and Ge~(3+)states, and the Ge~(1+)states are localized from the GeO_x surface to the GeO_x/Ge interface. Moreover, the Ge~(1+)states are predominant when the two outermost layers of Ge atoms are oxidized.These findings are helpful for establishing in-depth knowledge of the growth mechanism of the GeO_x layer and valuable for the optimization of Ge-based gate stacks for future complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor(MOS) field-effect transistor(CMOSFET) devices.