Epitaxial phase transitions in the iron/silicon system

https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-4332(93)90579-ZGet rights and content

Abstract

The properties of a newly discovered pseudomorphic FeSi/Si(111) phase with the CsCl structure are discussed. Upon annealing the new phase undergoes phase transitions to the stable ϵ-FeSi phase, either in epitaxial or polycrystalline form, depending on film thickness. Instead of transforming to ϵ-FeSi, very thin films (d < 15 Å) exhibit an uptake of Si up to the stoichiometry of FeSi2. The symmetry of the resulting phase remains unchanged, however, except for prolonged annealing close to the transition to β-FeSi2, where the formation of fluorite γ-FeSi2 grains is observed. We emphasize the far reaching consequences of the epitaxial stability of the defect-CsCl phase over a large range of compositions.

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