High quality β-FeSi2 epitaxial film grown on hydrogen terminated Si (111) by molecular beam epitaxy

A high quality β-FeSi2 epitaxial film with the thickness of 180 nm has been successfully grown for the first time on hydrogen terminated Si (111) at 580 °C by using solid source molecular beam epitaxy (SS-MBE). The β-FeSi2 film grown with stoichiometric Fe / Si source flux ratio 1:2 has a superior morphology and crystallinity comparing to the published results of the films grown by other methods.X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra confirmed that the obtained β-FeSi2 film was single crystal. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed a good morphology with large flat surface areas of the obtained β-FeSi2 film.