Formation of aligned nanosilicide structures in a MBE-grown Au/Si(110) system: a real-time temperature-dependent TEM study

Thin Au films (∼2 nm) were deposited on an Si(110) substrate epitaxially under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions in a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system. Real-time in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements were carried out at various temperatures (from room temperature to 700 °C), which shows the formation and growth of aligned gold silicide nanorod-like structures. The real-time selected-area electron diffraction patterns show the presence of silicon and unreacted gold at lower temperatures (up to 363 °C), while at higher temperatures only the signature of silicon has been observed. The diffraction analysis from room temperature cooled systems show the presence of gold silicide structures. Around 700 °C, 97% of the nanostructures were found to be aligned nanosilicide-rod-like structures with a longer side of ≈37 nm and aspect ratio of 1.38. For a high temperature annealed system (at 600 °C), selected-area diffraction (SAD) and high resolution lattice (after cooling down to room temperature) confirmed the formation of nano- Au(5)Si(2) structures. The alignment of gold silicide structures has been explained on the basis of lattice matching between the substrate silicon and silicide structures.

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