Modification of the microstructure in epitaxial erbium silicide

Several growth techniques in the formation of thin (<100 Å) epitaxial rare-earth silicide films have been investigated. Low temperature processing of a thin (3–4 Å) template layer results in distinct changes of the low energy electron diffraction patterns, with a 1×1 pattern occurring below 400 °C and a √3 ×√3 pattern occurring for higher temperature anneals. We present corresponding real and reciprocal space data showing that an appropriate template will produce structurally continuous films with no evidence of a vacancy superstructure that can occur in films prepared under less well-controlled conditions.