EPITAXIAL SILICIDE FORMATION IN THE MG/SI(111) SYSTEM

The silicide formation has been studied in the Mg/Si(111) system by IOW energy electron diffraction (LEED) and photoelectron spectroscopy. It has been found that an epitaxial Mg2Si silicide is responsible for the (2/3 square-root e x 2/3 square-root 3)R30-degrees reconstruction in this system. The thickness of the silicide is limited due to the very low formation temperature for this silicide. The Fermi level is positioned 0.59 +/- 0.06 eV above the valence band maximum in the Si substrate and the valence band maximum in the epitaxial silicide is positioned 0.3 +/- 0.1 eV below the Fermi level.