Growth and characterization of semiconducting iron disilicide bulk crystals

Abstract

The semiconducting iron disilicide β-FeSi₂ is increasingly attracting attention as a suitable material for Si-based optoelectronics, because its film is epitaxially grown on a Si substrate using a conventional Si-ULSI process. However, investigations on the fundamental properties of β-FeSi₂ are limited so far. In this paper, we report the solution growth of β-FeSi₂ bulk single crystals and their electrical, optical and structural properties.