Atomic structure of a regular Si(223) triple step staircase

A.N. Chaika (1) , Denis Fokin (2) , S.I. Bozhko (1) , A.M. Ionov (1) , François Debontridder (2) , Tristan Cren (2) , Dimitri Roditchev (2)

1 Institute of Solid State Physics
2 INSP - Institut des Nanosciences de Paris

An atomically accurate regular triple step array with a period of 4.8 nm has been fabricated on the vicinal Si(5 5 7) surface. Its atomic structure was studied on different length scales by scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and photoelectron spectroscopy. These complementary methods allowed to identify the average orientation of the regular triple step staircase as Si(2 2 3) and to give a deeper insight into the atomic arrangement of this structure. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: Vicinal surface; Silicon; Triple step; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Low energy electron diffraction; Core level photoelectron spectroscopy

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

A.N. Chaika, Denis Fokin, S.I. Bozhko, A.M. Ionov, François Debontridder, et al.. Atomic structure of a regular Si(223) triple step staircase. Surface Science : A Journal Devoted to the Physics and Chemistry of Interfaces, 2009, 603 (5), pp.752. ⟨10.1016/j.susc.2009.01.007⟩. ⟨hal-00449786⟩