Formation of Fe3Si/Ge/Fe3Si Multi-Layer by Double Heteroepitaxy on High Quality Fe3Si/Ge Substrate for Spintronics Application

Double heteroepitaxial growth of Fe3Si/Ge on high quality Fe3Si/Ge substrates has been investigated by low-temperature (<300oC) molecular beam epitaxy. Reflective high-energy electron diffraction measurements suggested that Fe3Si and Ge layers were epitaxially grown on Fe3Si/Ge substrates, though the surface morphology became rough. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that a small amount of Fe3Si(110) was included in the top Fe3Si layers. Transmission electron microscopy measurements indicated that stacking faults were formed in the intermediate Ge and the top Fe3Si layers. Improvement of crystal quality of the intermediate Ge layer is essential to realize high quality Fe3Si/Ge/Fe3Si multi-layers