RHEED studies of MnF2 epitaxial growth on Si(111) substrates

Molecular beam epitaxy was used to grow MnF2 films on a Si(111) substrate w ith a thin CaF2 buffer at room temperature. It was found that films thinner than three molecular layers have a cubic fluorite crystal structure inheri ted from CaF2, The MnF2 film is coherent to the substrate and has an interl ayer spacing of 0.305 +/- 0.005 mm, which is 3% less than for bulk CaF2, Th icker films have the tetragonal rutile structure, so the film surface is th e (110) plane of MnF2 with its [001] axis parallel to [110] directions of t he substrate. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.