A novel method of preparing ultrathin aluminum oxide films by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatment for effective silicon surface passivation is proposed. The high-temperature RTA processing (750–825 °C) for tens of seconds in an oxygen atmosphere completely converts the thermally evaporated aluminum metal nanofilms (1–5 nm) on crystalline silicon to aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) films, with a thin SiO_x layer formed at the interface between the silicon and the Al₂O₃. The generated Al₂O₃ film can provide superior passivation quality for the silicon surface, even better than that obtained by the thermal atomic layer deposition technique. Moreover, the growth kinetics of the Al₂O₃ passivating film indicates that it is a diffusion-controlled activation process, with an energy barrier of 3.3 eV for aluminum ions diffusing across the metal/oxide interface.

中文翻译：

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用于有效硅表面钝化的快速热退火诱导的超薄氧化铝薄膜

提出了一种通过快速热退火 (RTA) 处理制备超薄氧化铝薄膜的新方法，以实现有效的硅表面钝化。高温 RTA 处理（750–825 °C）在氧气气氛中持续数十秒，将晶体硅上的热蒸发铝金属纳米膜（1–5 nm）完全转化为氧化铝（Al ₂ O ₃）膜，其中在硅和Al ₂ O ₃之间的界面处形成薄SiO _x层。生成的Al ₂ O ₃薄膜可以为硅表面提供优异的钝化质量，甚至优于热原子层沉积技术获得的钝化质量。此外，Al ₂ O ₃钝化膜的生长动力学表明它是一个扩散控制的激活过程，铝离子在金属/氧化物界面上扩散的能垒为3.3 eV。