Growth of manganese silicide layers on Si substrates using MnCl ₂ source

Manganese silicide layers were grown on Si(111) substrates by exposure of the Si substrates to MnCl ₂ vapor. The thermal treatment temperature of 500°C provided the appropriate growth conditions to form the Mn _xSi _y(y/x - 2) similar to MnSi _1.7 phase. The epitaxial Mn _xSi _y(y/x-2) islands grew during the initial growth stage. As the heat treatment time increased, the epitaxial layer became continuous and covered the entire Si(111) substrate surface at the appropriate heat treatment temperature of 500°C, even though the additional growth of the Mn _xSi _y(y/x - 1) deposit similar to MnSi phase occurred when the thickness of Mn-silicide layers exceeded the limited layer thickness. These results encouraged us to grow large area Mn _xSi _yy/x - 2) layers on Si substrates using this simple growth technique.