Abstract
Abstract Symmetric, asymmetric and overlapped twins were observed in epitaxial NiSi2 thin films. These twin structures were studied by high-resolution electron microscopy. The twin-boundary planes of the observed symmetrical twins were found to be (1―11―)1-(1―11)2, while those of the asymmetrical twins were (1―11)1-(11―5)2 and (001)1-(22―1)2. The structural unit model was applied to explain the observed twin-boundary structures. The summetrical twin boundary is comprised of a uniform array of six-atom ring structural units, while the asymmetrical twins contained a mixture of structural units of the (1―11―)1-(1―11)2 and (1―12)1-(11―2)2 symmetrical twins. The {111} lattice plane containing Si was found to be the terminating lattice plane at the boundary core of the symmetrical twin in which case the bond length between Si atoms of two grains was determined to be the same as that of Si-Si bonds in bulk Si crystal, and the Ni atoms are sevenfold coordinated. High-resolution images of overlapped twins show triple periodicity along the directions of {111} plane normal which is dependent not only on the defocus, the total foil thickness and the thickness ratio of twins, but also on the stacking order of the two grains.
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