Microstructural studies of Fe-silicide films produced by metal vapor vacuum arc ion implantation of Fe into Si substrates

Iron-silicide films have been formed by metal vapor vacuum are (Mevva) ion implantation of iron into (111) and (100) oriented silicon wafers. In the as-implanted samples with a dose of 1 x 10(17) ions/cm(2), metastable gamma-FeSi2 is the dominant phase accompanied by a small fraction of the CsCl-derived defect phase Fe1-xSi. The silicide grains form a surface layer on (111) silicon, whereas they are embedded in(100) silicon substrate at a depth of 30 nm, In the samples with a higher dose of 4 x 10(17) ions/cm(2), a primitive orthorhombic FeSi2 phase is formed, Some grains with this new structure contain stacking faults which are lying on (100) planes.