Preparation and properties of MnSi1.7 on Si(001)

✍ Scribed by S. Teichert; D.K. Sarkar; S. Schwendler; H. Giesler; A. Mogilatenko; M. Falke; G. Beddies; H.-J. Hinneberg

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 286 KB
• Volume: 55
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-9317
• DOI: 10.1016/s0167-9317(00)00452-4

✦ Synopsis

The most rich silicon silicides of manganese, the group of higher manganese silicides (HMS), have the composition MnSi x with x in the range from 1.67 to 1.75. This material group with a tetragonal crystal structure shows semiconducting electronic properties, with promising application in thermoelectric devices. This paper reports the structural and morphological properties of HMS prepared by a reactive deposition process on Si(001) under UHV conditions. X-ray diffraction shows, for all samples grown at substrate temperatures ranging from 400 to 7508C, the growth of HMS only. Scanning electron microscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry show a transition from film growth to island growth with increasing substrate temperature. A detailed analysis of the XRD spectra shows a change of the texture of HMS at the transition of the sample morphology. The results are discussed on the basis of anisotropic growth rates for differently oriented grains of HMS.