Formation and atomic structure of self-assembled Dy silicide clusters on the Si(111)7 X 7 surface

The formation and atomic structure of self-assembled Dy silicide clusters on the Si(111)7 X 7 surface are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. We used Dy coverages in the range from 0.04 ML to 0.2 ML, substrate temperatures from room temperature to 500 degree C, and two different annealing p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Surface science 2013-03, Vol.609, p.215-220
Main Authors: Franz, M, Appelfeller, S, Rychetsky, M, Daehne, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atomic structure
Clusters
Dysprosium
Intermetallics
Scanning tunneling microscopy
Self assembly
Silicides
Unit cell
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Summary:The formation and atomic structure of self-assembled Dy silicide clusters on the Si(111)7 X 7 surface are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. We used Dy coverages in the range from 0.04 ML to 0.2 ML, substrate temperatures from room temperature to 500 degree C, and two different annealing procedures, reactive deposition epitaxy and solid phase epitaxy, to investigate the growth behavior of these clusters. Depending on the preparation conditions we found the self-assembly of different cluster types. Two main types of Dy silicide clusters occurring frequently were identified: off-center clusters that form close to an edge of the half unit cell and centered clusters that appear as triangles centered within the half unit cell. Both cluster types show a strong preference for the faulted half unit cell of the 7 X 7 reconstruction. By carefully analyzing the STM images we were able to identify the atomic structure of the off-center Dy silicide clusters and to propose a structure model for the centered Dy silicide clusters, both consisting of six Dy atoms and three Si atoms.
ISSN:0039-6028