The objective of the investigation is to study fundamental aspects of the initial stages of epitaxial growth in silicide ultra-thin films. Experimental techniques employed include energy filtered transmission electron diffraction, quantitative Auger lineshape analysis, and ultra-high vacuum scanning electron microscopy. The nature of the athermal, initial stage reactions at room temperature will be explored using amorphized or hydrogen passivated substrates. Precursor annealing reactions will be studied by measuring thermal activation energies for competing diffusion and nucleation processes, with emphasis on the role of epitaxial eonstraints.
