Silicide layer formation in evaporated and sputtered Fe/Si multilayers: X-ray and neutron reflectivity study

In this work we studied the interfaces in Fe/Si multilayers deposited using electron beam evaporation (e-beam) and direct current magnetron sputtering (dc-MS) techniques. X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity and polarized neutron reflectivity measurements were used to determine the characteristics of silicide layer formed at the interface. It was found that intermixed silicide layer thickness is larger at the Fe/Si interfaces than that at the Si/Fe interfaces. A quantitative analysis reveals that both interface roughness and the silicide layer thicknesses get reduced in dc-MS samples as compared to e-beam samples. Polarized neutron reflectivity together with magnetization measurement show that average magnetic moment and coercivity of e-beam sample is reduced. Obtained results can be understood in terms of basic thin film growth mechanism and the energetics of adatoms involved in the deposition process.