β-FeSi2 growth on Cu-mediated Si substrate and enhancement of photoluminescence

We have investigated the growth of β-FeSi2 on Cu-mediated (100) Si substrates and photoluminescence (PL) behavior. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed that the mediated surface became amorphous-like Si layers due to Cu atomic diffusion from the surface to the inside of Si and recrystallized during β-FeSi2 deposition, and that the recrystallization may contribute to the improvement of crystallinity of β-FeSi2 and the hetero-interface. We have observed pronounced enhancement of PL intensity from β-FeSi2 grown on the Cu-mediated Si substrate. This implies that non-radiative recombination centers may be decreased by the improvement of hetero-interface.