Archive Supersoft Transition Metal Silicides E. G. Moroni, R. Podloucky, and J. Hafner Phys. An Austrian team reports the theoretical prediction, which has not yet been tested in the lab, in the 31 August PRL . Molecular beam epitaxy allows researchers to create thin slabs of materials with extremely precise control for use in the electronics industry and in basic physics research. The deposited atoms tend to line up with those in the substrate, or at least in patterns strongly influenced by substrate atoms.
Physical properties can differ dramatically between bulk and epitaxial phases.
For example, some of the transition metal silicides are bulk semiconductors but become metals under appropriate thin film conditions. Researchers hope to exploit that property to make microscopic metallic connections to semiconductor chips. Elio Moroni, of the Vienna Technical University, says that physicists must first understand and learn to control the many complicated atomic configurations available in these materials before they can be exploited. Photons and electrons. Optoelectronic chips of the future may use transition metal silicides.