Size Effect of the Electron Yield Work on Single-Crystal Silicon Samples

Changes in electron work function (EWF) during the separation of Si(100) single-crystal silicon wafers into smaller samples (scribing operation) have been studied by the method of kinetic curves of EWF. The observed effect can be attributed to the sorption of water vapor on the Si(100) surface. The Helmholtz formula has been applied to estimate the amount of water absorbed by the samples, causing a change in the EWF. To determine the localization of sorbed water, we have used the method of layer-by-layer etching of the surface of Si(100) samples using low-temperature SF 6 -plasma. It has been shown that with a decrease in the size (area) of the samples, the size effect of the EWF takes place. For a whole plate (with an area of 80 cm 2 ) is characterized by the EWF value close to its reference value ( eV), while for small samples (~1 cm 2 ), this value decreases to 4.5 eV, which indicates a significant water content in the samples (~0.3 × 10 15 molecules cm –2 ). The data on sample etching by plasma have showed that water is unevenly distributed over the thickness of the sample, and is mainly concentrated in its deeper layers, not changed by mechanical processing (grinding and polishing). The results obtained are consistent with the theory of the secondary structure of a crystal (SSC), according to which crystalline solids have regular gaps (“T-space”) with a size of “1 atomic layer,” in which impurity transfer processes occur. Apparently, chemisorption of water takes place in the micropores of the T-space, which leads to size effects on Si(100).