POSITRONIUM EMISSION FROM SURFACE OF Si SUBSTRATES PASSIVATED BY HF ETCHING

In order to develop a low-temperature heat-treatment technique for the prepa-ration of Si substrates to be used in-situ in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), surface defects of the HF etched and passivated substrates were investegated with a slow positron beam analysis, the analysis system was equipped on-line with the molecu-lar beam epitaxy device. The fraction of positronium (Ps) emission from Si surface at different temperatures was estimated by a "peak-method", after comparing with the reflection high energy electron diffraction patterns, it was concluded that for a HF treated specimen a clean and stable passivated surface suitable to MBE can be obtained by an in-situ low-temperature (about 550℃) treatment. However, the pa-rameters of HF treatment (etching time, HF concentration, etc.) should be precisely adjusted in order to avoid the production of excessive damages on Si surfaces.