A novel crystal growth technique for silicide epitaxy is presented which utilizes thin silicide (<60 A˚) template layers to pin the subsequent growth under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Single crystal NiSi2films can be grown with either type A or type B orientations on Si (111). Continuous single crystal NiSi2is grown on Si (100) with a flat interface and uniform thickness. Thick CoSi2can be grown on Si (111) by a similar process using thicker templates.