Self-organization of uniform Ag nano-clusters on Sb-terminated Si(100) surface

Abstract

Nanometer sized Ag clusters were found to be uniformly formed in the initial stage of Ag growth on Sb-terminated Si(100) surfaces. Due to the saturation of Si dangling bonds by Sb adatoms, Ag clusters were grown on the Sb-terminated Si(100) surface without a Ag wetting layer. We found that the diameters and heights of Ag clusters were confined to a nanometer scale, and the size distribution was quite uniform compared to Ag growth on Sb-terminated Si(111). Those features are considered to result from the separation of Ag clusters by coherently aligned voids in the underlying Sb-terminated Si(100) surface. Tunneling spectroscopy measurements showed that the local conduction properties of Ag clusters gradually changed from semiconducting to metallic as Ag coverage increased.