Abstract
Scanning tunneling microscopy and low energy electron diffraction were used to investigate the growth of Tb silicide nanowires on Si(001) and its dependence on Tb coverage, annealing temperature, and the vicinality of the substrate. The nanowires are observed both isolated and in bundles, and while being narrower than 4nm, they reach lengths exceeding 500nm. Their appearance fits a hexagonal TbSi2 structure model with Si dimer rows on top of the nanowires. The growth of exclusive parallel nanowires was achieved on vicinal surfaces. On planar samples, the nanowire growth is accompanied by the formation of a 2×7 reconstruction that shows a wetting layer like behavior. In contrast, mainly building blocks of this 2×7 reconstruction are observed on vicinal samples.
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