Abstract
Ultra high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to study the adsorption and subsequent thermal desorption of a sulfur overlayer deposited in situ, at room temperature, on the Si(111)-7 × 7 surface. Little ordering is visible in the STM images of this overlayer 1–2 monolayers thick, with the underlying silicon surface retaining the (7 × 7) reconstruction with weakened low energy electron diffraction (LEED) spot intensity. STM images of this surface following a thermal anneal at 375°C revealed the presence of a number of monolayer deep “holes” or voids in the (7 × 7) surface. The appearance of these voids is consistent with a coalescence of vacancy defects induced by the sulfur desorption process as also observed for oxygen induced etching of the silicon surface. In addition, we have observed small regions of the (√3 × √3)R30° and c(4 × 2) reconstructions within areas exhibiting a high degree of surface disorder, with the metastable (5 × 5) reconstruction also being found. Both reconstructions and disorder are attributed to vacancy diffusion to step edges causing a redistribution of surface silicon atoms.
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