The Role of sputter etching and annealing processes on the formation of -FeSi thin films

Shimura, Kenichiro; Katsumata, Toshinobu*; Yamaguchi, Kenji; Yamamoto, Hiroyuki; Hojo, Kiichi

On the formation of -FeSi using Ion Beam Sputter Deposition (IBSD) method, sputter etching (SE) followed by thermal annealing is effective substrate treatment to obtain highly (100) oriented -FeSi on Si (100). However the best condition of these treatments are not yet known. In this work, the effect of sputter etching (SE) together with annealing process on the orientation of the film is investigated. In prior to the deposition of Fe, the substrate is irradiated by Ne ion with various energy and fluence followed by thermal annealing at 1027 K for 60 minuets. The overall results show the most suitable SE condition using Ne ion on IBSD method is the energy of 1keV with the fluence of 3010 ions/m.