Magnetic iron silicide nanowires on Si(110)

Abstract

Self-assembled iron silicide nanowires were formed by depositing 1ML of Fe onto Si(110) at 700°C in ultrahigh vacuum. The nanowires have average dimensions of 5nm high ×10nm wide ×μm long, as measured with ex situ atomic force microscopy. High-resolution electron microscopy identifies the crystal structure as cubic FeSi2 with orientation FeSi2(1¯11)∕∕Si(11¯1), FeSi2⟨110⟩∕∕Si⟨110⟩. Magnetometer measurements show a magnetic moment of 0.3Bohr magneton per iron atom at 2K. This magnetic property in metastable cubic FeSi2 nanowires opens up the possibility for high-density data storage and logic applications.