Identification and quantification of iron silicide phases in thin films

Iron silicide samples were grown on Si (111) substrates by solid phase epitaxy and reactive deposition epitaxy. The different iron silicide phases and their correlations with the growth parameters were analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and magnetic force microscopy. The authors investigated the potential of each technique for identifying and quantifying of the phases. In particular, the authors used a semiquantitative analysis of magnetic force microscopy images to spatially resolve the semiconductor β-FeSi2 phase.