The SiC͑111͒-͑333͒ phase was analyzed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) holography, density functional theory (DFT), and conventional LEED. A single adatom per unit cell found in STM acts as a beam splitter for the holographic inversion of discrete LEED spot intensities. The resulting 3D image guides the detailed analyses by LEED and DFT which find a Si tetramer on a twisted Si adlayer with cloverlike rings. This twist model with one dangling bond left per unit cell represents a novel ͑n3n͒-reconstruction mechanism of group-IV (111) surfaces. [S0031-9007(97)

We report on a novel holographic reconstruction of well resolved atomic images from discrete spot intensities appearing in low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) from crystalline surfaces. This opens holographic LEED to the wide field of ordered systems giving access to rather complex surface structures. [S0031-9007(97)

We analyze the formation of two-dimensional Ag islands following deposition of about 0.1 ML of Ag on Ag(100) over a temperature regime ranging from classical nucleation and growth behavior to almost immobile adatoms, from 300 to 125 K. Particular emphasis is placed on the post-deposition dynamics at the lower end of the temperature range, where the saturation island density is not reached at the end of the deposition, and nucleation and aggregation processes continue with adatoms from the remaining adatom gas. Our analysis combines VT scanning tunneling microscopy experiments with kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of appropriate atomistic models. The only adjustable parameters in the model are the terrace diffusion barrier and prefactor, which can be determined from island density behavior near room temperature. Other processes such as rapid edge diffusion, and "easy" nucleation and aggregation of diagonally adjacent adatoms, are treated as instantaneous. The model excellently reproduces all aspects of behavior at low temperatures, demonstrating that nucleation and growth processes can be described in one consistent scheme, down to the regime of almost immobile adatoms. We analyze the formation of two-dimensional Ag islands following deposition of about 0.1 ML of Ag on Ag͑100͒ over a temperature regime ranging from classical nucleation and growth behavior to almost immobile adatoms, from 300 to 125 K. Particular emphasis is placed on the post-deposition dynamics at the lower end of the temperature range, where the saturation island density is not reached at the end of the deposition, and nucleation and aggregation processes continue with adatoms from the remaining adatom gas. Our analysis combines VT scanning tunneling microscopy experiments with kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of appropriate atomistic models. The only adjustable parameters in the model are the terrace diffusion barrier and prefactor, which can be determined from island density behavior near room temperature. Other processes such as rapid edge diffusion, and ''easy'' nucleation and aggregation of diagonally adjacent adatoms, are treated as instantaneous. The model excellently reproduces all aspects of behavior at low temperatures, demonstrating that nucleation and growth processes can be described in one consistent scheme, down to the regime of almost immobile adatoms.

We review the basic ideas of holographic LEED, and the latest progress in the field. We compare several proposed computer reconstruction schemes. Using experimental diffuse LEED data from O/Ni(001) and K/Ni(001) surfaces, we show that the capability now exists for filtering out the effects on the diffraction patterns of possible long-range order amongst the adsorbates, thus making holographic LEED much more analogous to photoelectron holography. Inclusion of a scattered-wave kernel to compensate for the variation of the magnitude of the reference wave at the positions of potential object-wave sources enables the reconstruction of a fully three-dimensional image of substrate atoms in the immediate vicinity of atomic adsorbates from a set of just normal-incidence diffuse LEED patterns.

We report on the application to measured data of an algorithm for holographic low-energy electron diffraction ͑LEED͒, which overcomes the two most important limitations of the technique to date: the ''searchlight'' effect, which tends to highlight only atoms forward scattered by the adsorbates, and the distorting effects on diffuse LEED intensities due to possible long-range order among the adsorbates. The only experimental input required is a set of the most reliably measured diffuse LEED patterns from normally incident electrons. The algorithm is applied to a set of 11 measured diffraction patterns from a K/Ni͑001͒ surface. A fully threedimensional image is reconstructed from these data by compensating for the anisotropy of the reference wave by an appropriate scattered-wave kernel. ͓S0163-1829͑96͒00936-8͔