Localized epitaxial growth of IrSi3, ReSi2, and Rh3Si4 on (111) and (001)Si

A number of near noble and refractory metal silicides have been grown epitaxially on silicon. It now appears almost all stable phases of transition metal silicides can be grown epitaxially on silicon. Epitaxial growth of platinum-group silicides on (111) Si was previously reported. However, electroless chemical plating was used to deposit platinum-group metal thin films on silicon in that study. The plating method, while possessing a number of impressive advantages, is nevertheless relatively poor in impurity control in deposited metal films as well as at the metal/Si interfaces. As a result, simultaneous presence of different silicide phases was often observed. In a continuing effort to grow device quality epitaxial silicides on silicon, the authors have looked into electron gun deposited platinum-group metal thin films on silicon. In this paper, they report the results of a transmission electron microscope study of epitaxial growth of the stable phase of silicides on silicon in Ir/Si, Re/Si, and Rh/Si systems