Evidence for direct and indirect gap in FeSi from electron tunneling spectroscopy

We report electron tunneling spectroscopy studies on single crystalline FeSi sample performed for the case of homogeneous tunnel junction (TJ) contacts and for the case of counter electrodes made from Pt–Rh alloy. Our results reveal that while the tunneling spectroscopy in the configuration with Pt–Rh tip is preferably sensitive to the d-partial density of states (DOS) and to the indirect energy gap, the FeSi–FeSi type of TJ yields spectroscopic information on the c-partial DOS and on the direct gap in FeSi.