Photoelectron spectroscopy study of Mn/n-Si interfacial structure

The Mn/n-Si interfacial structure is susceptible to intermixing even at room temperature. To investigate the chemistry as a result of the intermixing, valence band and core level photoelectron spectroscopy of Mn/Si has been carried out using synchrotron radiation of 134 eV energy and Al K_α X-ray (λ = 1,486.6 Å) source. The fabricated structures have also been irradiated from swift heavy ions (Fe⁷⁺ of ~100 MeV) to investigate the ion beam mixing in such structures. Valence band photoelectron spectroscopy with 134 eV photons shows the evolution of Mn3d, Mn3p and Si2p levels with a shifting towards lower binding energy side compared to their elemental values of the binding energy. This binding energy shift shows the formation of chemical compound of Si and Mn. Evolution of Si2p core level prior to and after the swift heavy ion irradiation shows strong chemical reactivity of manganese thin film with silicon. Deconvolution of Mn3d valence band has shown the formation of silicide phase due to the hybridization of Mn3d and Si3sp states. Mn2p core level study shows that the oxide and silicide formation takes place during the growth and for successive etching, oxide part is decreasing whereas silicide part is increasing.