Interfacial reactions of Gd thin films on 111/ and 001/Si

Interfacial reactions of Gd on both 111.and 001.Si have been investigated. An amorphous interlayer a-interlayer.is formed at the initial stage of reactions of RE metal thin films on Si systems. The growth of amorphous phase was followed by the nucleation of the crystalline silicide at the a-interlayerrSi interface. Both hexagonal GdSi2yx h-GdSi2yx.and orthorhombic GdSi2 o-GdSi2.were observed to form in 001.and 111.samples. Crystalline defects such as vacancy ordering and stacking faults were observed and analyzed. q1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.