Growth and structure characterization of EuSi2 films and nanoislands on vicinal Si(001) surface

• EuSi2 islands and films are epitaxially grown on vicinal Si(001) surface.
• The surface morphology for Eu coverages between 0.3 and 303 ML is investigated.
• The formation of single crystalline tetragonal EuSi2 is unambiguously confirmed.

Europium silicide nanoislands and films with Eu coverage in the range 0.3 ML–303 ML were grown on the vicinal Si(001) surface with 4° miscut towards [110] by molecular beam epitaxy. The nanostructures were characterized by atomic force microscopy, reflection high energy electron diffraction, in situ synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy and ex situ X-ray diffraction. The analysis revealed the formation of EuSi2 with a tetragonal structure. By increasing the Eu coverage the surface morphology gradually changes from isolated islands through films with very rough surface to thick films with smoother surface.