Epitaxial iron-silicide (alpha-FeSi(2), epsilon-FeSi and beta-FeSi(2)) nanodots were grown on Si(111) substrates with SiO(2) ultrathin films by Fe deposition on Si nanodots. The nanodots were characterized in-situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy, and ex-situ high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). For the beta-FeSi(2) nanoclots, the HRTEM images and the corresponding fast Fourier transform patterns analyses revealed that the coherent beta-FeSi(2) nanoclots with a relation of beta-FeSi(2) (110)/Si(111) had a compressive strain of similar to 0.8% in the [001](beta-FeSi2) direction and a tensile strain of similar to 2.6% in the direction normal to (110)(beta-FeSi2) plane. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.