Initial stage of Ag epitaxial growth on Sb-terminated Si(111) surface

Abstract

In the initial stage of Ag film growth on the Sb-terminated Si(111) surface, we have found that the surface diffusion of Ag atoms was greatly suppressed, thereby producing atomically uniform epitaxial Ag films. It was also found that the crystallographic direction of the grown Ag islands matched well with that of the substrate. The aspect ratios (height-to-diameter) of the Ag islands did not increase noticeably even after thermal annealing, which is quite different to the case of Ag growth on clean Si(111). The effects of the thermally stable Sb-terminated Si(111) surface and Sb segregation on Ag islands on the formation of atomically uniform Ag films are also discussed.