Abstract
Autocatalytic-reaction model, a chemical-kinetics model that provides an integrated description of various dynamical processes in the very initial oxidation of Si(100) surface, is illustrated. The nonlinear rate equation of this model has an analytical solution. With only two fitting parameters as it is, the solution quantitatively reproduces the experimental time-evolution of the surface oxide coverage in various oxidation modes, which range from the Langmuir-type in the low-temperature/high-pressure regime to the two-dimensional-island-growth-type in the high-temperature/low-pressure regime, or even to the one in the etching regime containing simultaneous decomposition of grown oxides in addition to their growth. Microscopic background behind the model is discussed in comparison with existing oxidation models and thin-film-growth models.
