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Keywords:

ternary silicide, channeled ion beam synthesis, erbium silicide, ersi1.7 layers, 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, 0402 Geochemistry, 0915 Interdisciplinary Engineering, Applied Physics, 5104 Condensed matter physics, 5106 Nuclear and plasma physics

Abstract:

The ternary silicide, Er0.5Y0.5S1.7 has been produced by channeled ion beam synthesis (CIBS) in a Si(111) substrate. The properties of the material have been compared with those of the binary silicides (i.e. ErSi1.7 and YSi1.7) produced by the same method. Analysis was carried out using Rutherford backscattering (RBS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The study revealed that the layer produced is of good crystalline quality, and is indeed composed of the Er0.5Y0.5Si1.7 ternary silicide as opposed to a mixture of the two binaries. It is epitaxial with respect to the Si substrate and possesses the same hexagonal(AlB2) structure exhibited by both binary silicides. The azimuthal orientation with respect to the substrate is Er0.5Y0.5Si1.7[0001]//Si[111] and E0.5Y0.5Si1.7{11 (2) over bar 0}//Si{110}. The epilayer was found to be elastically strained with the perpendicular strain = -0.67% and the parallel strain = +0.34% similar to the values found for the Er and Y silicides. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.