Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2011
Growth of high quality type-B oriented NiSi2 and CoSi2 on Si(111) at room temperature was demonstrated recently. It is proposed that a few monolayers of metal reacts with Si(111) to form type B disilicide which then serves as a template for subsequent homoepitaxial growth during co-deposition. Thin, pre-annealed, silicide layers on Si (100) and (110) arc used as templates to demonstrate the homoepitaxial growth of NiSi2 and CoSi2 along these two directions at room temperature. The high temperatures usually required for the formation of NiSi2 and CoSi2 are related to the nucleation and mass transport processes.