Fabrication and mechanism of α-FeSi2 nanobars on (001) silicon wafer

In this paper, a novel α-FeSi2 nanobars material and structure, which may be used in nanoelectronic and microelectronic fields, were fabricated on (001) silicon wafers and the growth mechanism was discussed. The scanning electron microscope morphology indicates that the α-FeSi2 nanobars align along <110> directions on (001) silicon substrate, with the length up to 10 μm, width ranging between 20 and 200 nm, thickness about 10-100 nm, and triangle or trapezoids cross section. It seems that the optimal matching directions, the reconstruction in high temperature, and the interaction of original depositional iron nanoparticles by the magnetization of microwave magnetic field are the three factors that caused the formation and orientation of iron silicide nanobars.