Radiation effects on film formation and nanostructural changes of iron disilicide thin film

Abstract Ion irradiation effects on the synthesis and modification of iron disilicide films have been investigated by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations in order to fabricate films with higher quality or unique properties. It has been observed that pre-treatment of the substrate surface by 0.8 keV Ne + irradiation affects the structure of the films and the interface. Highly oriented films with an atomically smooth interface with the substrate can be synthesized by optimizing the ion irradiation conditions. We also attempted to produce nanostructural changes by high-energy heavy-ion irradiation. In some cases, this led to the formation of columnar defects with an average diameter of a few nm, which appeared to be amorphous or heavily damaged. We found that the criterion determining whether such columnar defects were formed was the electronic stopping power.