13 research outputs found
Continuous and correlated nucleation during nonstandard island growth at Ag/Si(111)-7x7 heteroepitaxy
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of submonolayer
heteroepitaxial growth of Ag on Si(111)-7x7 at temperatures from 420 K to 550 K
when Ag atoms can easily diffuse on the surface and the reconstruction 7x7
remains stable. STM measurements for coverages from 0.05 ML to 0.6 ML show that
there is an excess of smallest islands (each of them fills up just one
half-unit cell - HUC) in all stages of growth. Formation of 2D wetting layer
proceeds by continuous nucleation of the smallest islands in the proximity of
larger 2D islands (extended over several HUCs) and following coalescence with
them. Such a growth scenario is verified by kinetic Monte Carlo simulation
which uses a coarse-grained model based on a limited capacity of HUC and a
mechanism which increases nucleation probability in a neighbourhood of already
saturated HUCs (correlated nucleation). The model provides a good fit for
experimental dependences of the relative number of Ag-occupied HUCs and the
preference in occupation of faulted HUCs on temperature and amount of deposited
Ag. Parameters obtained for the hopping of Ag adatoms between HUCs agree with
those reported earlier for initial stages of growth. The model provides two new
parameters - maximum number of Ag atoms inside HUC, and on HUC boundary.Comment: LaTeX2e, BibTeX, 9 pages, 7 images, accepted to Phys. Rev.
Scanning tunneling microscopy at multiple voltage biases of stable "ring-like" Ag clusters on Si(111)-(77)
Since more than twenty years it is known that deposition of Ag onto
Si(111)-(7\times7) leads under certain conditions to the formation of so-called
"ring-like" clusters, that are particularly stable among small clusters. In
order to resolve their still unknown atomic structure, we performed voltage
dependent scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements providing
interesting information about the electronic properties of clusters which are
linked with their atomic structure. Based on a structural model of Au cluster
on Si(111)-(7\times7) and our STM images, we propose an atomic arrangement for
the two most stable Ag "ring-like" clusters.Comment: 9 pages and 5 figure
Correlated nucleation model for simulating nanocluster pattern formation on Si(111)7 × 7 surface
We study the aggregation mechanisms of metal nanoclusters on the Si(111)7 × 7
reconstructed surface using a correlated nucleation model, in which the nucleation and
growth behavior of a cluster (irreversible or partially reversible growth) depend on the
local environment of the cluster. The kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of the model shows
that with increasing temperature, the correlated nucleation effect causes a transition of
growth behavior from asymmetric adatom aggregation between faulted and unfaulted half
cells with a strong preference of occupation of faulted half cells, to compact cluster
aggregation with a low occupation preference at high temperatures. As a result the
preference as a function of the temperature exhibits a nonmonotonous behavior, with a
maximum located at the temperature at which the transition of growth behavior has been
observed. Both the simulated cluster morphologies and the quantitative analysis of the
cluster distribution are in good agreement with the results observed from relevant growth
experiments
A Strategy to Create Spin-Split Metallic Bands on Silicon Using a Dense Alloy Layer
To exploit Rashba effect in a 2D electron gas on silicon surface for spin transport, it is necessary to have surface reconstruction with spin-split metallic surface-state bands. However, metals with strong spin-orbit coupling (e.g., Bi, Tl, Sb, Pt) induce reconstructions on silicon with almost exclusively spin-split insulating bands. We propose a strategy to create spin-split metallic bands using a dense 2D alloy layer containing a metal with strong spin-orbit coupling and another metal to modify the surface reconstruction. Here we report two examples, i.e., alloying [Image: see text] reconstruction with Na and Tl/Si(111)1 × 1 reconstruction with Pb. The strategy provides a new paradigm for creating metallic surface state bands with various spin textures on silicon and therefore enhances the possibility to integrate fascinating and promising capabilities of spintronics with current semiconductor technology