Surface analysis on single-crystalline -FeSi

Mao, W.; Wakaya, Ippei*; Yamada, Yoichi; Esaka, Fumitaka  ; Yamamoto, Hiroyuki; Shamoto, Shinichi  ; Yamaguchi, Kenji; Udono, Haruhiko*

Thin films of semiconducting -FeSi keep attracting considerable attentions for their promising applicability to the Si-based optoelectronics devices. Recently, large single-crystalline -FeSi has successfully been synthesized, providing a substrate for a well-defined homoepitaxy film. As a first step toward good homoepitaxy of -FeSi, we prepare and characterize low-index surfaces of -FeSi single crystal. Both LEED and STM reveal the absence of the long-ranged surface reconstruction for each face, which is favorable for the homoepitaxy on this substrate. On the other hand, STM suggests a presence of a significant amount of surface defects for each face, which should be improved in the next step. In addition to structural analysis, the stoichiometry of clean surfaces will be discussed on the basis of XPS and SIMS measurements.