MeV Au ion induced modifications at Co/Si interface

We report on room temperature MeV Au ion induced modifications at the Co/Si interfaces. Nanometers size thin film of Co and Si were grown by ultra high vacuum (UHV) electron beam evaporation technique on Si(1 1 1) surface and were irradiated by 1.5 MeV Au2+ ions at a fluence of 5 × 1014 ions cm−2. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) along with energy filter imaging technique has been employed to study the formation of Co–Si alloy at the interface. Formation of such surface alloy has been discussed in the light of ion-matter interaction in nanometer scale regime.