Abstract
The epitaxial perfection and microstructure in thin CoSi 2(111)(and NiSi 2) films on silicon has been examined using transmission electron microscopy, including high resolution cross section techniques. We find that, under ultrahigh vacuum preparation conditions only, genuine single-crystal epitaxy can occur for both reacted and codeposited CoSi 2 films. A unique interfacial defect structure is associated with this epitaxy, in which the silicide films are rotated through 180° about (111) with respect to the silicon substrates. Under less than perfect clean conditions epitaxial perfection is never obtained for CoSi 2. Moreover such perfection has never been attained under any conditions for NiSi 2 on Si(111). By studying the evolution of epitaxy and defect structure in thin and thick films we have proposed a model to explain the unique quality of ultrahigh vacuum CoSi 2 films. The model invokes a defect pinning mechanism to explain the dominance of the 180°-rotated epitaxy during silicide growth.
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