The self-organisation process of semiconductor iron disilicide (beta-FeSi2) nanosize island formation during iron deposition at 475 degreesC on silicon (111) substrates, in the Fe thickness range 0-2.0 nm, has been studied by AES and EELS methods. Basing on AES data, a simple model of silicide growth has been proposed. It has been established that, at fixed iron deposition rate (0.1 nm/s), the growth process has five stages. The optimal growth parameters have been found for growing nano-islands with high density and small size. Good accordance of the beta-FeSi2 island growth process with the proposed model has been confirmed by AFM data. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.