Amorphous-iron disilicide: A promising semiconductor

Abstract

We report here the synthesis and the measurements of the microstructural and optical properties of a promising semiconductor, amorphous-iron disilicide. The material was obtained by ion-beam mixing of Fe layers on Si, with Ar8+ ions, at 300 °C. Optical absorption measurements indicate a semiconductor with a direct band gap of 0.88 eV. The significance of this discovery is that it demonstrates the existence of such a material. It should be possible to synthesize by other techniques and could be applied in large-area electronics.