Abstract

AbstractWe used direct imaging of diffusion fields in photoemission electron microscopy to study the diffusion (an)isotropy of Ag on flat and vicinal Si(001) surfaces with miscut angles between 0.2° and 4° in the [110] direction. While the diffusion field, represented by its iso-coverage zone, is isotropic on flat Si(001), it becomes elongated on the vicinal surface. The aspect ratio of the iso-coverage zone is used as a measure of the effective diffusion anisotropy on the surface. The aspect ratio of the iso-coverage zone increases continuously with the miscut angle, up to the maximum miscut that was studied. For the 4° miscut surface we find that the shape of the diffusion field is independent of the kink density of the substrate. From the temperature dependence of the aspect ratio, we determine an effective energy of ΔEani ∼ 0.7 eV for the activation energy responsible for the anisotropy.

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