Self-organization of Pb islands on Si(111) caused by quantum size effects

Abstract

Growth of metallic Pb islands on Si(111) by vacuum deposition was studied in real time using synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The islands coarsen and order, maintaining a nearly uniform interisland distance but without angular correlation. The resulting interisland structure is akin to a two-dimensional liquid. Over a wide temperature range, the interisland ordering is well correlated with the development of “magic” island heights caused by energy minimization of the Pb electrons. The results demonstrate quantum confinement effects as a driving force for self-organization, as opposed to strain effects that generally govern the formation of semiconductor quantum dot arrays.