Si(1 1 1)-(6 × 6)Au surface morphology and nucleation of Pb at low temperature

Abstract

The morphologies of the Si(1 1 1)-(6 × 6)Au surface and the nucleation of Pb have been investigated at temperatures below room temperature using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The STM scans of the clean Si(1 1 1)-(6 × 6)Au surface revealed exceptionally rich and strongly bias-dependent details within the unit cell. After deposition of about 0.01 ML of Pb(1 1 1), at temperatures above 180 K, the single Pb atoms formed a two-dimensional mesh with (6 × 6)-Au periodicity. In this early stage of deposition, the Pb atoms occupied predominantly one specific site of the (6 × 6) unit cell. The local symmetry of this site determined the further growth of the Pb layer. As a consequence, the structure of the Pb layer on Si(1 1 1)-(6 × 6)Au is rotated of 30° relative to that of the Pb layer on Si(1 1 1)-(7 × 7).