Transition metal silicides: aspects of the chemical bond and trends in the electronic structure

Hot electron attenuation of direct and scattered carriers across an epitaxial Schottky interface

“…For such epitaxial films and M/S interfaces and for energies close to φ B , the propagating hot electrons reaching the Schottky interface are considerably forward focused due to minimal elastic scattering and can be easily collected at the n-Si (111) semiconductor leading to an increasing λ at these energies. At higher energies (i.e E F + 2 eV), the density of states in NiSi 2 is almost constant as is reflected in the orbital character of the states involved in NiSi 2 [22] resulting in a constant λ, for the direct electrons, at these energies. An interesting consequence of the enhancement of the attenuation length for the direct hot electrons in NiSi 2 , at low energies, can be seen in Figs which have a larger attenuation length and thus contributes to I RB and leads to an increase in λ ef f .…”

Electronic structure of Ni and Mo silicides investigated by x-ray emission spectroscopy and density functional theory

“…They show a good agreement with previous 035117-3 studies. 5,18,20,[44][45][46] Trends in metal silicide bonding can be inferred from close inspection of these densities. We discuss them starting from higher binding energies.…”

“…Similar discrepancies between experimental and theoretical data have been previously reported for other Ni compounds. 48,49 The difference is more pronounced for Ni 2 Si compared to NiSi 2 , reflecting the fact that the d states in Ni 2 Si have a stronger Ni metal-like character, 46 hence a higher sensitivity to the final-state effect than in NiSi 2 .…”

Studies of local bonding and chemistry at internal interfaces using electron energy loss spectroscopy

“…The electronic structure of Ni-silicides, similar to that of Ni-aluminides, is mainly determined by the formation of p-d hybrids. Extended Huckel calculations show that the LDOS of a Ni atom in the silicides consists of a sharply peaked narrow d-band superimposed over a slowly varying free electron-like s-p band [6]. As the Si content of the silicides is increased from Ni 2 Si to NiSi, the p-d hybridization increases.…”