Influence of substrate orientation on low-temperature epitaxial growth of ferromagnetic silicide Fe3Si on Si

Influence of substrate orientation on epitaxial growth of the ferromagnetic silicide Fe₃Si on Si was investigated using low temperature (60-300 °C) molecular beam epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements revealed that Fe₃Si layers were epitaxially grown on Si(110) and Si(111), while random poly-crystal Fe₃Si layers were formed on Si(100). From the Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy measurements, the values of the χ_min of the Fe₃Si layers grown at 60 °C on Si(100), Si(110), and Si(111) were evaluated to be 100%, 97%, and 41%, respectively. This dependence on the substrate orientation was explained on the basis of the atomic alignments at the Fe₃Si/Si interfaces.