Applied Surface Science, Vol.194, No.1-4, 89-96, 2002
Positron annihilation in SiO2-Si studied by a pulsed slow positron beam
Positron and positronium (Ps) behavior in SiO2-Si have been studied by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and age-momentum correlation (AMOC) spectroscopy with a pulsed slow positron beam. The PALS study of SiO2-Si samples, which were prepared by a dry-oxygen thermal process, revealed that the positrons implanted in the Si substrate and diffused back to the interface do not contribute to the ortho-Ps long-lived component, and the lifetime spectrum of the interface has at least two components. From the AMOC study, the momentum distribution of the ortho-Ps pick-off annihilation in SiO2, which shows broader momentum distribution than that of crystalline Si, was found to be almost the same as that of free positron annihilation in SiO2. A varied interface model was proposed to interpret the results of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) experiments. The narrow momentum distribution found in the n-type MOS with a negative gate bias voltage could be attributed to Ps formation and rapid spin exchange in the SiO2-Si interface. We have developed a two-dimensional positron lifetime technique, which measures annihilation time and pulse height of the scintillation gamma-ray detector for each event. Using this technique, the positronium behavior in a porous SiO2 film, grown by a sputtering method, has been studied. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.