Scanning tunneling microscopy observation of surface superstructures during the growth of In on In/Si(111) surface

• Published in: Thin solid films 2011-10, Vol.520 (1), p.328-332
• Main Authors: Xu, Maojie, Dou, Xiao-Ming, Jia, Jin-Feng, Xue, Qi-Kun, Zhang, Yafei, Okada, Arifumi, Yoshida, Shoji, Shigekawa, Hidemi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Deposition; Epitaxy; Exact sciences and technology; In/Si; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Monolayers; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanowires; Other topics in nanoscale materials and structures; Physics; Quantum wires; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Strain; Structure and morphology; thickness; Superstructure; Superstructures; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Theory and models of film growth; Thin film; Thin film structure and morphology; Thin films
• ISSN: 0040-6090; 1879-2731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2011.06.099

Surface superstructures are studied with scanning tunneling microscopy during the growth of In on In/Si(111). On the inhomogeneous substrate of Si(111) 4 × 1/ 3 × 3 -In coexisting surface, the deposition of 1.5 monolayer (ML) In at about 0 °C leads to 7 × 3 reconstruction on 3 × 3 surface and the formation of one-dimensional nanowires on 4 × 1 surface (1.0 ML = 7.8 × 10 14 atoms/cm 2). Subsequent deposition of In at − 100 °C gives rise to the appearance of a hexagonal superstructure with 37 × 4 3 periodicity on 7 × 3 reconstructed surface, while self-alignment of In dots along one-dimensional nanowires is observed on the initial 4 × 1 surface. On Si(111) 3 × 3 -In surface, the growth of 2.5 ML In at about − 100 °C yields 6 × 6 superstructure. The strain in the epitaxial In thin films provides a driving force for the formation of self-organized surface structures.