Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol.405, 35-38, 2014
Unique surface structure formations on a Ge-covered Si(110)-16 x 2 surface
Si-Ge structures forming new shapes on a Si(110)-16 x 2 reconstructed surface were investigated via scanning tunneling microscopy. Pyramidal-shaped Si-Ge nanoislands lying along the < 1 1 1 > directions were formed on the striped structure at Ge coverage between 3 and 6 monolayers. However, when a single monolayer of Ge was deposited on the Si(110)-16 x 2 surface, single-domain of 16 x 2 striped structure disappeared, and a new double-domain striped structure was formed over the surface along directions that differed from the < 1 1 2 > directions. This structure represents a new Si-Ge striped structure that forms by the mixing of Ge and Si due to high temperature annealing. These results indicate that the surface structure changes specifically with trace amounts or Ge. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved,
Keywords:Nanostructures;Surface structure;Scanning tunneling microscopy;Germanium silicon alloys;Semiconducting silicon