Reconstruction on rows and steps of Si(112) and Si(223)

Abstract

We have investigated Si(112) and Si(223) by using scanning tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. A well-developed two-dimensional long-range order of atomic structures in the corresponding macroscopic orientations could not be observed in the present experiment. Instead, the surfaces exhibited large facets of 7×7 reconstructed Si(111) and various modes of local reconstructions, which predominantly occurred on rows and steps in the [1̄10] direction. A frequently observed doubling of periodicity could in either case be explained by dimerization of atoms or by the presence of adatoms. On Si(223) a fivefold periodicity of the ideal atomic distance along [1̄10] was found in addition.