Abstract
We present in this article a comprehensive review of the dynamical fluctuations in the atomic positions that may take place, even at very low temperatures, at the clean silicon or germanium (100) surfaces or at their (111) surfaces decorated with Sn or Ag adatoms. We also elucidate the intriguing, hitherto unexplained differences observed between the two, seemingly similar, Sn/Si(111) and Sn/Ge(111) [Formula: see text] surfaces. We also describe the surprising behaviors of silver ultrathin films grown on different semiconductor surfaces, displaying in certain cases a bcc phase, a one-dimensional quasicrystalline superstructure and/or well-defined quantum size effects.
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