Method for low temperature oxidation of silicon

A method of low-temperature oxidation of a silicon substrate comprising:

• placing a silicon wafer in a vacuum chamber;
• maintaining the silicon wafer at a temperature of between about room temperature and 400° C.;
• introducing an oxidation gas in the vacuum chamber;
• irradiating the silicon wafer surface with a xenon excimer lamp generating light to eject electrons from the silicon wafer surface and dissociating the oxidation gas to form a reactive oxygen species over the silicon wafer;
• and
• forming an oxide layer on at least a portion of the silicon wafer.

A method of low-temperature oxidation of a silicon substrate comprising:

• placing a silicon wafer in a vacuum chamber;
• maintaining the silicon wafer at a temperature of between about room temperature and 400° C.;
• introducing N20 oxidation gas in the vacuum chamber;
• irradiating the silicon wafer surface with a xenon excimer lamp generating light at a wavelength of about 172 nm to eject electrons from the silicon wafer surface and dissociating the oxidation gas to form a reactive oxygen species over the silicon wafer, and applying a negative potential of between about five to ten volts to the silicon wafer;
• forming an oxide layer on at least a portion of the silicon wafer;
• and
• annealing the silicon wafer and oxide layer in an inert atmosphere for between about one to ten minutes at a temperature of between about 600° C. to 750° C.