Submonolayer amounts of Er deposited onto Si(001) react with the substrate
to form epitaxial nanowires of crystalline ErSi2. The ErSi2 nanowires are <
1 nm high, a few nanometers wide, close to a micron long, and crystallograp
hically aligned to Si < 110 > directions. The growth of uniaxial structures
occurs because the different crystal structures of ErSi2 and Si have a goo
d lattice match along one Si < 110 > crystallographic axis (- 1.3%) but a s
ignificant mismatch along the perpendicular Si < 110 > axis (+ 6.5%). An en
ergetic model explains the formation of the ErSi2 nanowires. (C) 2001 Elsev
ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.