Silicon-on-insulator with crystalline silicon oxide

A semiconductor structure comprising a silicon-on-insulator layer structure with crystalline silicon oxide SiOx as the insulator material, comprising:

• a crystalline silicon base layer;
• a crystalline silicon oxide layer, with a thickness of at least two molecular layers, on the crystalline silicon base layer;
• and
• a crystalline silicon top layer on the crystalline silicon oxide layer, wherein the semiconductor structure is formed by:
• providing a crystalline silicon substrate have a substantially clean deposition surface in a vacuum chamber;
• heating the crystalline silicon substrate to an oxidation temperature To in the range of 550 to 1200° C.;
• and
• supplying, while keeping the crystalline silicon substrate in the oxidation temperature, with an oxidation pressure Po in the range of 1·10−8 to 1·10−4 mbar in the vacuum chamber, molecular oxygen O2 into the vacuum chamber with an oxygen dose Do in the range of 0.1 to 1000 Langmuir;
• whereby at least part of the molecular oxygen supplied into the vacuum chamber is adsorbed onto the deposition surface and diffuses into the crystalline silicon substrate, and the crystalline silicon oxide layer is formed within the crystalline silicon substrate, between the crystalline silicon base layer and the crystalline silicon top layer.