Abstract
Triangular islands with uniform size are observed on the Ge(111)-Ag surface after the formation of the 3×3 structure by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at 77 K. The triangular islands disappear at room temperature, and do not form on the 4 × 4 surface of Ge(111)-Ag at 77 K. These results indicate that, when the 3×3 structure is formed, excess Ag atoms exist on the Ge(111)-Ag surface, which are assembled into the triangular islands at low temperature. From the bias dependence of the STM images for the triangular islands, we conclude that the triangular island is composed of six Ag adatoms with a triangular configuration. In addition, after additional deposition of Ag at room temperature, structural evolution from the triangular islands to 39×39 and 6 × 6 superstructures is also observed.
Published Version
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