Shape variation in epitaxial microstructures of gold silicide grown on Br-passivated Si(111) surfaces

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for growth on substrates of three-fold symmetry predict the growth of islands of various shapes depending on the growth temperature [Phys. Rev. Lett. 71 (1993) 2967]. On Br-Si(111) substrates growth of epitaxial gold silicide islands of equilateral triangular and trapezoidal shapes have earlier been observed by annealing at the Au-Si eutectic temperature, 363 degreesC [Phys. Rev. B 51 (1995) 14330]. We carried out annealing with temperature variation within a small window-(363+/-30) degreesC. This has led to island growth of additional shapes like regular hexagon, elongated hexagon, walled hexagon and dendrite. Some of the observed island shapes have not been predicted. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.