ELECTRONIC AND ATOMIC-STRUCTURE OF THIN COSI2 FILMS ON SI(111) AND SI(100)

The electronic and atomic structure of very thin epitaxial cobalt silicide films was studied to provide insight into the initial stages of interface formation. Thin CoSi2 films (3-30 angstrom) on Si(111) and Si(100) were studied experimentally using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and Auger electron spectroscopy, and computationally using the pseudofunction method of Kasowski for determining the electronic band structure. The experimental and computational results support the models of Hellman and Tung for Co-rich and Si-rich CoSi2(111) surfaces. The surface-state dispersion that we measure for the Co-rich variant agrees with the behavior that we calculate for the Hellman-Tung model. For the Si-rich variant, the essentially bulklike bonding environment of the outermost Co atoms in the Hellman-Tung model agrees with the photoemission results. Preliminary results for thin films of CoSi2 on Si(100) grown by a template technique show clearly a strong dependence of film quality on the annealing temperature and initial Co thickness. A model for surface structure is suggested that accounts for LEED and photoemission results.