A. A. Alekseev, D. A. Olyanich, T. V. Utas, V. G. Kotlyar, A. V. Zotov, A. A. Saranin, “Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi<nobr>$_2$</nobr>(111) films grown at a high temperature”, Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, 2015, Volume 85, Issue 10,Pages <nobr>94

This article is cited in 9 papers

Physics of nanostructures

Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi$_2$(111) films grown at a high temperature

A. A. Alekseev^a, D. A. Olyanich^ab, T. V. Utas^a, V. G. Kotlyar^ab, A. V. Zotov^abc, A. A. Saranin^ab

^a Institute for Automation and Control Processes, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok
^b School of Natural Sciences, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok
^c Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service

Abstract: Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is used to study the basic laws of growth of ultrathin epitaxial CoSi$_2$(111) films with Co coverages up to 4 ML formed upon sequential deposition of Co and Si atoms taken in a stoichiometric ratio onto the Co–Si(111) surface at room temperature and subsequent annealing at 600–700$^\circ$C. When the coverage of Co atoms is lower than $\sim$2.7 ML, flat CoSi$_2$ islands up to $\sim$3 nm high with surface structure 2 $\times$ 2 or 1 $\times$ 1 grow. It is shown that continuous epitaxial CoSi$_2$ films containing 3–4 triple Si–Co–Si layers grow provided precise control of deposition. CoSi$_2$ films can contain inclusions of the local regions with (2 $\times$ 1)Si reconstruction. At a temperature above 700$^\circ$C, a multilevel CoSi$_2$ film with pinholes grows because of vertical growth caused by the difference between the free energies of the CoSi$_2$ (111) and Si(111) surfaces. According to theoretical calculations, structures of A or B type with a coordination number of 8 of Co atoms are most favorable for the CoSi$_2$(111)2 $\times$ 2 interface.

Received: 22.12.2014