Hetero-epitaxial growth of CoSi2 thin films on Si(1 0 0) : template effects and epitaxial orientations

Abstract This HREM investigation focuses on the influence of point defects on the final epitaxial relation and atomic interface configuration in a CoSi 2 /Si(1 0 0) heterostructure. A two-step SPE–MBE grown CoSi 2 /Si(1 0 0) system is used and, by altering the number of deposited Co monolayers in the template layer, the point defect behavior is studied. We propose a film growth model in which the knowledge about the reconstructed (2×1) : Si(1 0 0) surface, the point defect behavior in the presence of an interface, especially a silicide interface, the migration of point defects through a lattice by formation of 〈1 0 0〉-split interstitial (dumbbell) atomic configurations, and a new type of extended defect configurations in diamond type materials will all amalgamate.