GROWTH AND PROPERTIES OF ION-BEAM SYNTHESIZED SI COXNI1-XSI2/SI(111) STRUCTURES/

Heteroepitaxial CoxNi1-xSi2 layers with good crystalline quality (chi( min)=3.5%) have been formed by ion beam synthesis. For a sample with x =0.66, we found that this ternary silicide layer contains 11% type B a nd 89% type A orientation. The transmission electron microscopy invest igation reveals that the type B component is mainly located at the int erfaces and with a thickness of only a few monolayers. X-ray diffracti on studies of the sample show that the strain of the type B component is smaller than that of the type A and is probably the reason for such a unique distribution of the type B component in the epilayer. Ruther ford backscattering-channeling, Auger electron spectroscopy, transmiss ion electronmicroscopy, and x-ray diffraction have been used in this s tudy.