Structure determination of substrate influenced silicon nano-ribbon growth

Abstract

Using photoelectron diffraction (XPD), photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), we investigate the structure of silicon nano-ribbons grown on Au(1 1 0). We find that silicon forms two zigzag-terminated hexagonal chains along the [1‾ 1 0]-substrate direction, while the gold substrate forms a bulk-typed surface reconstruction after silicon evaporation. Only two missing rows along the [1‾ 1 0]-direction remain partially in their original structure at the Si/Au interface. Unlike silicon nano-ribbon formation on Ag(1 1 0), nano-ribbon growth on Au(1 1 0) is strongly substrate influenced by Van-der-Waals interaction and by AuSi bonding formation. This strong interaction leads to a substrate-driven hexagon formation, where the gold atoms are partially integrated into the ribbon structure. Besides the determination of the internal silicon nano-ribbon structure, we identify the origin of the two chemically shifted silicon components in the XPS spectra by deconvolving the diffraction pattern.