The structure and growth direction of rare earth silicide nanowires on Si(100)

The growth direction and the structure of rare earth silicide nanowires grown on the Si(100) surface have been calculated from first principles. The energies of the optimum structures show that a structure related to the tetragonal bulk phase is more favorable than the hexagonal model and that growth parallel to the dimer rows is lower in energy than growth across the dimer rows. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3453865]