Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi2(111) films grown at a high temperature

Abstract

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to study the basic laws of growth of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi2(111) films with Co coverages up to 4 ML formed upon sequential deposition of Co and Si atoms taken in a stoichiometric ratio onto the Co–Si(111) surface at room temperature and subsequent annealing at 600–700°C. When the coverage of Co atoms is lower than ~2.7 ML, flat CoSi2 islands up to ~3 nm high with surface structure 2 × 2 or 1 × 1 grow. It is shown that continuous epitaxial CoSi2 films containing 3–4 triple Si–Co–Si layers grow provided precise control of deposition. CoSi2 films can contain inclusions of the local regions with (2 × 1)Si reconstruction. At a temperature above 700°C, a multilevel CoSi2 film with pinholes grows because of vertical growth caused by the difference between the free energies of the CoSi2(111) and Si(111) surfaces. According to theoretical calculations, structures of A or B type with a coordination number of 8 of Co atoms are most favorable for the CoSi2(111)2 × 2 interface.