Preparation and characterization of epitaxial CaSi₂ and siloxene layers on silicon

Epitaxial growth of thin CaSi₂ films on various silicon surfaces is described. Transforming the silicide into siloxene leads to high quality epitaxial siloxene films with different orientations. The structural quality of CaSi₂ and siloxene is investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy as well as X-ray diffraction analysis. Siloxene on (110)-Si enables direct observation of the anisotropic vibrational properties by IR transmission measurements. A diode structure was realized with siloxene by using contacts with different work functions as charge carrier injectors.