Surfactant mediated growth of MnSi1.7 on Si(001)

Sb is used as a surfactant for the growth of MnSi1.7 by reactive deposition of Mn on Si(001). It is found that the presence of Sb during the growth strongly increases the island density and changes the crystalline orientation of the MnSi1.7. The morphology and structure of the resulting silicide are the same both for the deposition of Mn only on a Sb-terminated Si(001) surface and for the codeposition of Mn and Sb on Si(001). A residual Sb coverage close to one monolayer at the sample surface has been determined for both of the preparation conditions.