Tomographic layer-by-layer analysis of epitaxial iron-silicide nanostructures by DFT-assisted STS
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2019
Department
Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Department of Physics
Abstract
Surface science techniques (STM, STS, and XPS) were combined with ab initio simulations to detect the local crystal structure and chemistry. Solid phase epitaxy of iron on vicinal Si(111) substrate resulted in the formation of (√3 x √3)R30° nanoislands and (2×2) films of γ-FeSi2(111). We identify these structures by comparing experimental normalized derivative conductance curves with tomographic simulated local density of states (LDOS). The thermodynamic tendency of γ-FeSi2(111) towards Si rich surfaces is manifested in Si rich termination layers and reconstructions. We show that a weighted average of the LDOS from the Fe layer and the reconstruction layer can explain the main states in the normalized derivative conductance curves, enabling in-situ identification of crystal structure and composition of epitaxial deposits.
Publication Title
Applied Surface Science
Recommended Citation
Dascalu, M.,
Dieguez, O.,
Geng, L. D.,
Pati, R.,
Jin, Y. M.,
&
Goldfarb, I.
(2019).
Tomographic layer-by-layer analysis of epitaxial iron-silicide nanostructures by DFT-assisted STS.
Applied Surface Science,
496.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143583
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/962
Publisher's Statement
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143583