Sr/Si Template Formation for the Epitaxial Growth of SrTiO 3 on Silicon

A novel silicon cleaning process using strontium metal thin films has been described. The silicon dioxide de-oxidation process using strontium as catalysts has been studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and other in-situ techniques. A Sr/Si template for the epitaxial growth of SrTiO3 single crystals on silicon can be directly formed as a result of the above Sr-de-oxidation process. The de-oxidation mechanism can be explained after solving the interfacial structures of the Sr/SiO2/Si system with in-situ XPS.