The Nitridation Of A Silicon Powder Studied By Xps And X-Ray-Induced Aes

XPS and x-ray-induced AE'S have been used to study the reaction layers formed on silicon powder samples heated in ultra-high purity nitrogen at temperatures between 1100 and 1200 degrees C. An equation was derived to calculate the average surface reaction layer thicknesses from the silicon AES spectra. The results indicate that samples where the reaction layer is relatively thin may have some silicon oxynitride within this layer. For samples will calculated reaction layer thicknesses > 1.5 nm, the N 1s peak binding energy and Si KLL peak kinetic energy are characteristic of bulk Si3N4. The nitridation kinetics follow a linear rate law within this temperature range with a measured activation energy of 280 +/- 60 kJ mol(-1).