ION-BEAM SYNTHESIS OF HETEROEPITAXIAL ERBIUM SILICIDE LAYERS

Si(111) substrates were implanted with 70 or 90 keV Er-166 atoms to do ses from 1.3 to 2.0 x 10(17) cm(-2) at substrate temperatures from 450 to 530 degrees C. During implantation, the Si substrates were tilted by 7 degrees to minimize the channeling effect. The Er silicide layers formed under these conditions are not as good as Co silicide layers f ormed by Co implantation under similar conditions and the reason is di scussed, One of the best results is an annealed sample containing a di scontinuous epitaxial ErSi1.7 layer with chi(min) of 40%. Rutherford b ackscattering and channeling spectrometry, X-ray diffraction and trans mission electron microscopy have been used to study this heteroepitaxi al ErSi1.7 layer, showing that the epilayer is compressively strained and the azimuthal orientation of the epilayer is ErSi1.7[0001]\\Si[111 ] and ErSi1.7<(10(1)over bar 0)>\\Si(<(11)over bar 2>).