The location of silicon atoms and the initial stages of formation of the [formula omitted] interface studied by STM

Abstract

Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) have been used to study the deposition of Si at 560°C in the presence of an arsenic flux on GaAs(001)-(2 × 4) surfaces grown in situ by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). RHEED studies indicate that for the low Si deposition rates used, the surface structure undergoes a series of changes as the Si coverage is increased up to 2.5 monolayers; (2 × 4) →; asymmetric (3 × 1) → symmetric (3 × 1) → (3 × 2) → (4 × 2). At low coverages, the Si preferentially occupies vacant second layer Ga sites in the missing dimer trenches of the (2 × 4) reconstructed clean surface and a disordered, kinked surface is formed. Adjacent Si atoms in the trenches are eventually covered with As, bridging the missing dimer trenches and forming elongated rectangular units with a periodicity along [1̄10] of 8 Å. The number of these units becomes greater as the Si coverage is increased and there is a change in periodicity from 8 to 12 Å along [1̄10] consistent with the appearance of the symmetric (3 × 1) structure. Detailed studies on vicinal surfaces misoriented by 1° towards both (111)A and (111)B indicate no preference for the Si to align itself along the step edges. As the Si coverage is increased, the Si displaces Ga atoms from the second layer of the structure and forms a series of two dimensional islands which appear as “holes” in the surface. These islands eventually dominate the surface and result in a terminating Si layer and the observation of the (3 × 2) structure. Subsequent Si growth occurs by dimer chain formation on top of this layer and the strings of Si dimers that are formed at high coverages are characteristic of STM observations of the homoepitaxial growth of Si on Si(001).