Surfactant mediated growth of MnSi 1.7 layers on (001)Si

Abstract

This study reports on transmission electron microscopy investigations of higher manganese silicide (HMS) layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on (001)Si using the surfactant mediated reactive deposition technique. Applying Sb as a surfactant (surface active substances) results in an increased silicide island density as well as in a change in the crystalline orientation of the silicide islands. The silicide islands were found to grow into the Si matrix. The preferential epitaxial relationship was determined to be (100)[010]Mn 4Si 7 || (001)[100]Si or (010)[ 1 00]Mn 4Si 7 || (001)[100]Si. In [100]Si cross-sectional view the silicide crystallites of this orientation appear with a smooth Mn 4Si 7/(010)Si interface and a slightly inclined to (001)Si Mn 4Si 7/Si interface, which is suggested to split up into two local sections: Mn 4Si 7/(001)Si and Mn 4Si 7/(011)Si.