Study of Fe deposition upon a layered compound: GaSe

• Published in: Applied surface science 2000-10, Vol.166 (1), p.143-148
• Main Authors: Zerrouki, M., Lacharme, J.-P., Ghamnia, M., Sébenne, C.A., Eddrief, M., Abidri, B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Exact sciences and technology; Intercalation; Iron on gallium selenide; Layered compound; Metal–semiconductor interfaces; Physics; Solid surfaces and solid-solid interfaces; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/S0169-4332(00)00396-2

Fe has been sequentially deposited under ultra-high vacuum, from less than 1 ML up to over 120 ML (1 ML refers to the GaSe surface, ≈8×10 14 atoms/cm 2), onto the clean (001) passive face of a 10-nm thick (≈12 layers) GaSe film epitaxially grown by MBE onto a Si(111)1×1-H substrate and kept at room temperature. From low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and photoemission yield spectroscopy (PYS) measurements, a model in which Fe atoms intercalate into the layered semiconductor at room temperature is proposed. It assumes the formation of a ternary compound, which maintains the GaSe surface structure until saturation of the whole layered film by intercalated Fe, which would involve two Fe monolayers per pseudo-van der Waals gap.