Low temperature hetero-epitaxy of ferromagnetic silicide on Ge substrates for spin-transistor application

Ando, Yuichiro*; Ueda, Koji*; Kumano, Mamoru*; Sado, Taizo*; Narumi, Kazumasa; Maeda, Yoshihito; Miyao, Masanobu*

Ferromagnetic silicide FeSi (Currie temperature: 840 K) has three phases (A2, B2, and DO3), where the DO3-type is an ordered phase and calculated to be spin-polarized at the Fermi level. In addition, the lattice constant (0.565 nm) of FeSi is almost completely equal to that (0.565 nm) of Ge. Therefore, atomically controlled epitaxial growth of FeSi is expected on Ge. This will be a powerful tool to realize Ge channel spin transistors with ultrahigh speed operation and ultralow power consumption. This paper reviews our recent progress in novel epitaxial growth of FeSi on Ge for spintronics application.