Investigation of the Au-induced morphology of 3.8 and 12.3 degree silicon surfaces / by Wei Wu.

Abstract

We have used a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low energy electron diffraction to investigate the Au-induced morphology of vicinal Si samples miscut from (111) by 3.8°, and 12.3° toward [112]. The surface morphology changes dramatically with Au coverage on both samples. On the 3.8° samples, gold deposition leads to the formation of the (775) facets. The (775) facet is orientated 8.5° toward [112] and characterized by 1-d chains running along [110] with a spacing of 21.3 A. The formation of the (775) facet is consistent with previous ideas that it represents a low energy facet on these surfaces. On the 12.3° sample no single low energy facet was observed in the coverage range (0-0.24ML) investigated. Instead, (13 13 7), (995), and (553) facets are formed at 0.10 ML, 0.20 ML, and 0.24 ML respectively.