Simultaneous epitaxy and substrate out-diffusion at a metal-semiconductor interface: Fe/GaAs(001)-c(8×2)

Abstract

We have combined high-angular-resolution Auger-electron diffraction, kinematical scattering calculations, low-energy-electron diffraction (done in a pulse-counting mode), and high-energy-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to examine the formation of the Fe/GaAs(001)-c(8×2) interface. We find that clusters of bcc Fe at least three atomic layers deep grow in registry with the substrate for coverages up to ∼4 monolayer equivalents. These clusters contain Ga and As atoms which have been liberated from the GaAs substrate. Above this coverage, the clusters coalesce into a continuous bcc Fe matrix with a lattice constant equal to half that of GaAs and with principal crystallographic axes parallel to those of the substrate. This epitaxial Fe overlayer contains Ga and As in solution in the bcc lattice with the impurity atoms occupying interstitial face-center sites. The concentration of Ga and As decreases with distance from the GaAs substrate. At the same time, we find clear evidence for surface segregation of As and enrichment of the near-surface region.