Coexistence of two gold-induced one-dimensional structures on a single terrace of the Si(11 11 13)

Abstract

Regular arrays of silicon terraces with coexisting two gold-induced one-dimensional structures have been synthesized on the Si(11 11 13) surface. For the first time, it was possible to confine the well-known 5 × 2-Au reconstruction to narrow stripes separated by atomic steps and preserving its basic properties. Moreover, each terrace consists of additional chain of gold atoms that shows the same crystallographic and electronic properties to the Si(557)-Au surface. The results obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy supplemented by first-principles density functional theory calculations allow to identify fingerprints of 5 × 2-Au and Si(557)-Au structures occupying the same terrace. This contrasts with the whole family of gold chains on vicinal silicon surfaces and presents new paradigm in engineering of complex one-dimensional nanostructures on stepped surfaces.