Epitaxial Heusler alloy films on GaAs(0 0 1) substrates

We present results on fabrication, and structural and electrical properties of single-crystal heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The exact stoichiometry of the Heusler alloy films can be achieved for almost lattice matched films. As evidenced by high-resolution X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and resistivity measurements, we find an optimum growth temperature of , to obtain ferromagnetic layers with high crystal and interface perfection as well as high degree of atomic ordering. .     

Growth of Ge islands on prepatterned Si (0 0 1) substrates

We report on the growth and properties of Ge islands grown on (0 0 1) Si substrates with lithographically defined two-dimensionally periodic pits. After thermal desorption and a subsequent Si buffer layer growth these pits have an inverted truncated pyramid shape. We observe that on such prepatterned substrates lens-like Ge-rich islands grow at the pit bottoms with less Ge deposition than necessary for island formation on flat substrates. This is attributed to the aggregation of Ge at the bottom of the pits, due to Ge migration from the pit sidewalls. At the later stages of growth, dome-like islands with dominant {1,1,3} or {15,3,23}, or other high-index facets [i.e. {15,3,20} facets] are formed on the patterned substrates as shown by surface orientation maps using atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, larger coherent islands can be grown on patterned substrates as compared to Ge deposition on flat ones.     

Adsorption of Ag on Si(1 0 0) surface

The chemisorption of one monolayer Ag atoms on an ideal Si(1 0 0) surface is studied by using the self-consistent tight-binding linear muffin-tin orbital method. The adsorption energies (E_ad) of different sites are calculated. It is found that the adsorbed Ag atoms are more favorable on C site (fourfold site) than on any other sites on Si(1 0 0) surface, the polar covalent bond is formed between Ag atom and surface Si atom, a Ag and Si mixed layer does not exist and does form an abrupt interface at the Ag–Si(1 0 0) interface. This is in agreement with the experiment results. The layer-projected density of states is calculated and compared with that of the clean surface. The charge transfer is also investigated. Comparing with the Au/Si(1 0 0) system, the interaction is weaker between Ag and Si than between Au and Si.     

Evolution of CoSi2 buried structures created by high temperature Co+ ion implantation into Si(1 0 0) during post-implantation annealing

The evolution of buried structures of cobalt disilicide, which are formed in a Si(1 0 0) matrix by 400 keV Co⁺ ion implantation at 875 K substrate temperature with subsequent rapid thermal annealing at 1275 K was studied by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (X-TEM). The analysis of identical samples with successive variations of the implanted doses and annealing times allows a detailed observation of the role of defects, created by the ion flux, on the process of ripening and growth of CoSi₂ precipitates. We found that transport of the implanted material along diffusive links leads to the formation of a secondary CoSi₂ distribution between the main layer and the surface. Post-implantation annealing results in the evolution of defects into dislocations, which affects the mobility and therefore the growth of CoSi₂ precipitates. Increasing the annealing time leads to the separate growth of precipitates in each layer. The result is not the formation of a single uniform buried layer because the distance between the individual layers is too large due to a screening effect, which operates during the ripening stage.     

Atomic and electronic properties of furan on the Si(0 0 1)-(2 × 2) surface

The atomic and electronic properties of the adsorption of furan (C₄H₄O) molecule on the Si(1 0 0)-(2 × 2) surface have been studied using ab initio calculations based on pseudopotential and density functional theory. We have considered two possible chemisorption mechanisms: (i) [4 + 2] and (ii) [2 + 2] cycloaddition reactions. We have found that the [4 + 2] interaction mechanism was energetically more favorable than the [2 + 2] mechanism, by about 0.2 eV/molecule. The average angle between the CC double bond and Si(1 0 0) surface normal was found to be 22°, which is somewhat smaller than the experimental value of 28°, but somewhat bigger than other theoretical value of 19°. The electronic band structure, chemical bonds, and theoretical scanning tunneling microscopy images have also been calculated. We have determined a total of six surface states (one unoccupied and five occupied) in the fundamental band gap. Our results are seen to be in good agreement with the recent near edge X-ray absorption fine structure and high resolution photoemission spectroscopy data.     

Adsorption of molecular SiO2 on a clean Si(1 0 0) surface

We have investigated the adsorption of molecular (gaseous) SiO₂ on a clean Si(1 0 0) p(2 × 2) reconstructed surface using density functional theory based methods. The SiO₂ molecule is found to be chemisorbed on various sites on the Si surface and the most energetically favourable structure is on top of the dimers. The minimum energy pathways for the various adsorption channels indicate that the reaction is barrierless in all cases. The corresponding vibrational spectrum is also calculated and the adsorbed molecules are, as expected, found to have red-shifted vibrational frequencies. The energetically favourable adsorption sites and adsorption energies are comparable to the results found for SiO.     

Structural and magnetic properties of evaporated Fe thin films on Si(1 1 1), Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates

We present experimental results on the structural and magnetic properties of series of Fe thin films evaporated onto Si(1 1 1), Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates. The Fe thickness, t, ranges from 6 to110 nm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to study the structure and surface morphology of these films. The magnetic properties were investigated by means of the Brillouin light scattering (BLS) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) techniques. The Fe films grow with (1 1 0) texture; as t increases, this (1 1 0) texture becomes weaker for Fe/Si, while for Fe/glass, the texture changes from (1 1 0) to (2 1 1). Grains are larger in Fe/Si than in Fe/glass. The effective magnetization, 4πM_eff, inferred from BLS was found to be lower than the 4πM_S bulk value. Stress induced anisotropy might be in part responsible for this difference. MFM images reveal stripe domain structure for the 110 nm thick Fe/Si(1 0 0) only.     

Thin PTCDA films on Si(0 0 1): 1. Growth mode

We have studied the interface and thin film formation of the organic molecular semiconductor 3,4,9,10 perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) on clean and on hydrogen passivated Si(0 0 1) surfaces. The studies were made by means of high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HRXPS), near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS), low energy electron diffraction (LEED), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). On the passivated surface the LEED pattern is somewhat diffuse but reveals that the molecules grow in several ordered domains with equivalent orientations to the substrate. NEXAFS shows that the molecules are lying flat on the substrate. The Si 2p XPS line shape is not affected when the film is deposited so it can be concluded that the interaction at the interface between PTCDA and the substrate is weak. The evolution of the film formation appears to be homogeneous for the first monolayer with a nearly complete coverage of flat lying molecules based on the XPS attenuation. For layer thickness of 0.5-2 monolayers (ML) the molecules start to form islands, attracting the molecules in between, leaving the substrate partly uncovered. For thicker films there is a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode with thick islands and a monolayer thick film in between. For the clean surface the ordering of the film is much lower and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) of the molecular orbitals have only a small dependence of the emission angle. NEXAFS shows that the molecules do not lie flat on the surface and also reveal a chemical interaction at the interface.     

Photoluminescence of ZnO nanowires grown on sapphire (1 1 2¯ 0) substrates

ZnO nanowires were fabricated on c-plane (0 0 0 1), a-plane (1 1 2¯ 0) sapphire, and boron doped p-type (1 0 0) Si substrates in vacuum furnace by simple physical vapor deposition. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra of the nanowires show the near band-edge emission and the deep-level green light emission. The ZnO nanowires formed on sapphire (1 1 2¯ 0) substrates exhibited enhancement on optical properties and better crystalline structures than those of nanowires grown on other substrates. The formation mechanism and the effect of substrate direction on structural and optical properties of the nanowires are discussed.     

Composition and morphological characteristics of chemically sprayed fluorine-doped zinc oxide thin films deposited on Si(1 0 0)

Fluorine-doped zinc oxide thin films (ZnO:F) were deposited on Si(1 0 0) substrates by the chemical spray technique (CST) from an aged-solution. The effect of the substrate temperature on the morphology and composition of the ZnO:F thin films was studied. The films were polycrystalline, with a preferential growth along the ZnO (0 0 2) plane, irrespective of the deposition temperature. The average crystal size within the films was ca. 35 nm and the morphology of the surface was found to be dependent on the substrate temperature. At low substrate temperatures irregular-shaped grains were observed, whereas at higher temperatures uniform flat grains were obtained. Elemental analysis showed that the composition of the films is close to stoichiometric ZnO and that samples contain quite a low fluorine concentration, which decreases as a function of the deposition temperature.     

Nitrogen nanobubbles and butane nanodroplets at Si(1 0 0)

Nanobubbles and nanodroplets were spontaneously formed at Si(1 0 0) in contact with nitrogen and butane saturated water, respectively. The topographic images obtained by tapping mode AFM were similar truncated nanospheres, but the phase images suggested that the nanobubbles were harder than the nanodroplets. The tip–sphere interactions showed the nanodroplets were much viscoelastic than the nanobubbles. The surface and three-phase contact line energies were estimated by analysis of the topographic images. The nanodroplet was stable, but the nanobubble was unstable in spite of the experimental long life. The two-dimensional spatial distribution indicated an attractive interaction between the nanodroplets, but no interaction was observed between the nanobubbles.     

Crystal structure and magnetic properties of SmCo-based films deposited on hot Si (1 0 0) substrates

SmCo-based films were deposited on Si (1 0 0) substrates by the rf magnetron sputtering process. The growth conditions are improved for the films deposited on hot Si substrates without the annealing process. The dependence of crystal structure and intrinsic coercivity on substrate temperature is chiefly investigated. It is suggested that TbCu₇ type structural films can be obtained with enhanced in-plane magnetic properties with proper substrate temperature.     

Energy surfaces of rare-earth silicide films on Si(1 1 1)

We report on angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy results of thin dysprosium-silicide layers formed on Si(1 1 1), taken with a toroidal analyzer allowing to image the energy surfaces in k_||-space. At monolayer dysprosium coverages, where hexagonal DySi₂ grows with a 1×1 superstructure, electron pockets are observed at the points with highly anisotropic effective masses, and around a hole pocket at the point also an anisotropic dispersion is found. The band filling of these two bands amounts to one, indicating an even number of electrons assigned to the surface unit cell. Similar features are found for multilayer coverages, where hexagonal Dy₃Si₅ layers are formed with a superstructure. Here, the influence of zone folding effects due to the reconstructed layers in the bulk silicide is only weak because of the high surface sensitivity of the experiments.     

RAS: An efficient probe to characterize Si(0 0 1)-(2 × 1) surfaces

A complete inspection of the capabilities of reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) in studying the adsorption of molecules or atoms on the Si(0 0 1)-(2 × 1) surface is presented. First, a direct comparison between RA spectra recorded on the clean Si(0 0 1)-(2 × 1) and the corresponding topography of the surface obtained using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) allows us to quantify the mixing of the two domains that are present on the surface. Characteristic RA spectra recorded for oxygen, hydrogen, water, ethylene, benzene are compared to try to elucidate the origin of the optical structures. Quantitative and qualitative information can be obtained with RAS on the kinetics of adsorption, by monitoring the RA signal at a given energy versus the dose of adsorbate; two examples are presented: H₂/Si(0 0 1) and C₆H₆/Si(0 0 1). Very different behaviours in the adsorption processes are observed, making of this technique a versatile tool for further investigations of kinetics.     

Growth and characterization of thin PTCDA films on 3C-SiC(0 0 1)c(2 × 2)

The growth of thin 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) films on a 3C-SiC(0 0 1)c(2 × 2) substrate has been studied by means of photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In the first monolayer the molecules interact with the substrate mainly through the O atoms in the end groups of the molecule. The O atoms have a higher binding energy in the first molecular layer compared to the following layers. No chemical shifts are observed in the Si 2p spectra or in the C 1s spectra from the perylene core of the molecules. From the VB spectra and LEED pattern we conclude that the substrate remains in the c(2 × 2) reconstruction after PTCDA deposition. For thicker films a Stranski-Krastanov film growth was observed with flat lying molecules relative to the substrate.     

Tetra-σ bonding adsorption of pyridine on Si(1 0 0)-2 × 1

We studied adsorption of pyridine on Si(1 0 0) at room temperature using high resolution photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and near edge X-ray adsorption fine structure (NEXAFS) in the partial electron yield (PEY) mode. The Si 2p, C 1s, N 1s spectra of pyridine on Si(1 0 0) showed that pyridine is chemisorbed on Si(1 0 0)-2 × 1 through the formation of the tetra-σ-bonded structure with the N atom and three C atoms. NEXAFS was conducted to characterize the adsorption geometry of pyridine on Si(1 0 0). The π* orbital of CC bond showed a good angle dependence in C K-edge NEXAFS spectra, and we were able to estimate the adsorption angle between chemisorbed pyridine of CC bond and the Si(1 0 0) surface using an analytical solution of NEXAFS intensity. We find the coexistence of two different tight bridges with the adsorption angles 42 ± 2° and 45 ± 2° with almost equal abundance.     

Magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial Fe layers grown on Si(0 0 1)

The magnetic properties of epitaxial iron films up to 80 monolayers (ML) thickness grown on Si(0 0 1) by using a template technique were investigated by means of superconducting quantum interference device and magneto-optic Kerr effect techniques. The thinnest films investigated (∼3 ML) exhibit a composition close to Fe₃Si with a Curie temperature below room temperature (RT) and strong out-of-plane remanent magnetization that reflects the presence of a dominant second order surface anisotropy term. Thicker films (⩾4 ML) are ferromagnetic at RT with remanent magnetization in film-plane and a composition closer to pure Fe with typically 8–10% silicon content. When deposited at normal incidence such films show simple in-plane fourfold anisotropy without uniaxial contribution. The relevant fourth-order effective anisotropy constant K₄^eff was measured versus film thickness and found to change its sign near 18 ML. The origin of this remarkable behavior is investigated by means of a Néel model and mainly traced back to fourth-order surface anisotropy and magneto-elastic effects related to the large biaxial in-plane compressive strain up to 3.5% in the thinnest (⩽25 ML) films.