Structural Analysis of Self-Assembled Platinum-Silicide Nanostructures on Si(001) Using Ion Scattering Spectroscopy

The structure of platinum (Pt) silicide products grown on Si(001) substrate by Pt deposition at 600 degrees C was analyzed using coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy. The resulting surface always had two kinds of products, nanowires and islands. The Pt2Si crystals with four low index surface planes were took up as candidates for the products, and it was found that the nanowires and islands of the Pt silicide were composed of Pt2Si with (010) and Si-terminated (001) as surface planes, respectively. The surface energy calculation performed using density functional theory calculation indicated that the Si-terminated Pt2Si(001) had the lowest energy among the examined surfaces, which is consistent with the fact that islands are the major products on the surface.