Effect of incident atomic beam power on the formation of a Fe/Si(111)7 × 7 interface

Abstract

The interaction of iron atoms with a silicon single crystal substrate and the initial stages of growth in this system have been studied using Auger electron spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and low-energy electron diffraction in the course of iron deposition from two molecular beam sources at a deposition rate of 0.001 and 6 nm/min and an energy of 0.14 and 0.18 eV, respectively. The first regime leads to the layer-by-layer growth of iron, while the second regime leads to the layer-by-layer growth of iron monosilicide. These results show evidence of a substantial influence of the power transferred by a molecular beam on the film-substrate interface evolution and silicide formation at this interface.