We present a detailed study of the structural and electronic properties of a
self-assembled silicon nanoline embedded in the H-terminated silicon (001)
surface, known as the Haiku stripe. The nanoline is a perfectly straight and
defect free endotaxial structure of huge aspect ratio; it can grow micrometre
long at a constant width of exactly four Si dimers (1.54nm). Another remarkable
property is its capacity to be exposed to air without suffering any
degradation. The nanoline grows independently of any step edges at tunable
densities, from isolated nanolines to a dense array of nanolines. In addition
to these unique structural characteristics, scanning tunnelling microscopy and
density functional theory reveal a one-dimensional state confined along the
Haiku core. This nanoline is a promising candidate for the long sought after
electronic solid-state one-dimensional model system to explore the fascinating
quantum properties emerging in such reduced dimensionality.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
