The growth of indium on the H-terminated Si(111)1 × 1 surface

Abstract

The growth morphology and the chemical interactions of thin In layers on an H-terminated Si(111)1 × 1 surface, prepared by a wet chemical procedure, have been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and synchrotron radiation based photoemission. The interactions between the In overlayer and the HSi(1 × 1) surface are weak as evidenced by valence band and core level photoemission spectra. As on the clean Si(111)7 × 7 surface an island growth mode of In is observed on the HSi(1 × 1) surface, but the island structures display significant differences in shape and growth behaviour between the two surfaces, indicating a modified In growth kinetics mediated by the H adlayer. This surfactant-type role of H is discussed. Annealing of the room temperature deposited In layers results in remarkable coverage-dependent morphology changes which signal the predominance of kinetic effects in the room temperature growth. For higher In coverages (>25 monolayers) well-ordered single crystalline In islands are formed at room temperature as indicated by atomically resolved STM images and angle resolved photoemission measurements.