Abstract
We investigated the influence of heating current on the phase transition of the (7 × 7) reconstruction on a Si(111) surface using ultra-high vacuum scanning electron microscopy. Just below the phase transition temperature, the (7 × 7) reconstruction nucleates at the upper edges of the steps, and the (7 × 7) phase coexists with the ‘1 × 1’ phase on the terrace. In this situation, the size of the (7 × 7) phase depends on the direction of the heating current, and the (7 × 7) phase is larger under the step-up current than under the step-down current. This dependence can be explained assuming that adatoms in the ‘1 × 1’ phase are forced to move in the same direction as the current.
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