Surfactant mediated growth of MnSi1.7 on Si(001)

Sb is used as a surfactant for the growth of MnSi1.7 by reactive deposition of Mn on Si(001). It is found that the presence of Sb during the growth st rongly increases the island density and changes the crystalline orientation of the MnSi1.7. The morphology and structure of the resulting silicide are the same both for the deposition of Mn only on a Sb-terminated Si(001) sur face and for the codeposition of Mn and Sb on Si(001). A residual Sb covera ge close to one monolayer at the sample surface has been determined for bot h of the preparation conditions. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.