  Kinetics of silicon dry oxidation are investigated theoretically and
experimentally at low temperature in the nanometer range where the limits of
the Deal and Grove model becomes critical. Based on a fine control of the
oxidation process conditions, experiments allow the investigation of the growth
kinetics of nanometric oxide layer. The theoretical model is formulated using a
reaction rate approach. In this framework, the oxide thickness is estimated
with the evolution of the various species during the reaction. Standard
oxidation models and the reaction rate approach are confronted with these
experiments. The interest of the reaction rate approach to improve silicon
oxidation modeling in the nanometer range is clearly demonstrated.
