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 arc (Mevva) ion implantation of iron into (111) and (100) oriented silicon wafers. In the as-implanted samples with a dose of 1 X lOI ions/cm*, metastable y-FeSi, is the dominant phase accompanied by a small fraction of the CsCl-derived defect phase Fe, _ x Si. 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 lOI ions/cm*, a primitive orthorhombic FeSi, phase is formed. Some grains with this new structure contain stacking faults which are lying on (100) planes