177 research outputs found
Self-assembly of parallel atomic wires and periodic clusters of silicon on a vicinal Si(111) surface
Silicon self-assembly at step edges in the initial stage of homoepitaxial
growth on a vicinal Si(111) surface is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy
(STM). The resulting atomic structures change dramatically from a parallel
array of 0.7 nm wide wires to one dimensionally aligned periodic clusters of
the diameter ~ 2 nm and periodicity 2.7 nm in the very narrow range of growth
temperatures between 400 and 300 C. These nanostructures are expected to play
an important role in future development of silicon quantum computers.
Mechanisms leading to such distinct structures are discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. Numbers of pages and
figures are 13 and 3, respectivel
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