Pulsed laser annealing has been applied on Fe-57/Si(1 0 0) layers in order to study the formation of iron silicides after irradiation with a XeCl excimer laser. The Fe-57 layers were produced by pulsed laser deposition. The number of pulses and the fluence were varied. FeSi. beta-FeSi2 and metastable gamma-FeSi2 phases have been observed after irradiation, Subsequent thermal annealing leads to the presence of a pure beta-FeSi2 surface layer. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry and conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy characterized the irradiated layers. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.