β - FeSi2 and Schottky barrier at Fe/Si interface

Metal / semiconductor interface investigations have been of enormous research interest because of technological application in microelectronics. In the present work Fe films deposited on Si(111) substrate were studied as a function of annealing temperatures for the formation of silicide phases. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) results show a stable disilicides β-FeSi 2 formation at the interface at 600 0 C. The coercivity, determined by Magneto Optical Kerr Effect (MOKE) technique shows a hysteresis curves for as-deposited and annealed samples which varies from 14.914 Oe to 31.016Oe. The coercivity of β-FeSi 2 is higher than of pristine sample which is due to the formation of nanocrystalline grains with increasing annealing temperatures. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study shows shifting of Fe2P 3/2 peak towards higher binding energy for annealed samples. The Schottky barrier height by the I-V measurement varies from 0.59eV to 0.49 eV.