The crystalline effect of the of the β-FeSi2 film using two types target prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Ecological friendly semiconducting silicide β-FeSi₂ thin film has been formed on FZ-Si (111) substrates using sintering FeSi₂ (purity 99.99%) and electrolytic Fe (purity 99.99%) targets by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method in an ArF (λ= 193 nm) excimer laser. Subsequently the prepared thin films were annealed at 900°C. Cross sectional transmission electron microscope (TEM) results confirmed that the epitaxial growth of the β-FeSi₂ on the thin films and the crystalline structure was improved after increasing the annealing time 5 to 20 hrs ranges in both process. It was also showed the polycrystalline structure and the thicknesses of the thin films were 80 to 100 nm for FeSi₂ target and 200 to 250nm for Fe target. The TEM result was also confirmed by electron diffraction (ED) method. The intrinsic photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the A-band peak from 20 hrs annealed sample was investigated. We report an application of the thin film with crystalline effect, luminescence characteristics and band structure condition to apply in solar cell and optical fiber communications.