Epitaxial growth of Al‐doped β‐FeSi2 on Si(111) substrate by reactive deposition epitaxy

Al-doped β-FeSi2 [β-Fe(Si1-xAlx)2] thin films with a thickness of 100 nm were epitaxially grown on Si(111) substrate by reactive deposition epitaxy (RDE). The reflective high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) images showed epitaxial growth of β-Fe(Si1-xAlx)2 (101)(110)//Si(111) in the composition range of 0 < x < 2.3%. In high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) measurements, the β(800) and β(406)(460) peaks shift to lower diffraction angles. The peak shifts linearly increase with Al composition. From an analysis of the peak shifts, Vegard's law of a, b, and c-axis in Al-doped β-FeSi2 was proven for the investigated Al-composition range. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)