Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Single Cu, Ag, and Au Atoms Adsorbed onSi(111)−(7×7)

Abstract

Using scanning tunneling microscopy and first principles calculations, the adsorption sites of single Cu, Ag, and Au atoms on the Si111-7 7 surface have been systematically investigated and identified. Despite their monovalence, these atoms were found to adsorb at high coordination sites, seeking to saturate the maximum number of dangling bonds. The stable adsorption sites were further observed to be distinctly different in the faulted and unfaulted half unit cells, showing an asymmetry that has never been observed for many other adsorbates.

Size-selective self-assembly of magnetic Mn nanoclusters on Si(111)

“…19 The simulated STM images for the Mn 13 cluster agree well with the experimental images of the hexagonal cluster as shown in Figs. 4(c) and 4(d) 20 (more detailed simulated STM images for Mn 11 and Mn 12 are shown in the supplementary material). 33 It should be noted that the magic Mn 7 and Mn 13 clusters correspond to the Mn coverage of 0.143 ML and 0.265 ML, respectively.…”

“…[1][2][3] The periodic lattice pattern of the reconstructed Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface is considered to be one of the best templates for growing ordered self-assembled nanoclusters. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Using the half unit cells (HUCs) as preferential nucleation centers, the ordered Mn nanocluster arrays on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface have been successfully fabricated at room and elevated temperatures. [16][17][18][19][20] Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies revealed that Mn nanoclusters prefer occupying the faulted HUCs (FHUCs) to unfaulted HUCs (UFHUCs), and it was observed that a planar two-dimensional (2D) Mn cluster first develops at the initial deposition stages that is followed by the formation of two types of three-dimensional (3D) Mn nanoclusters that coexist on the surface with increasing Mn coverage.…”

Photoemission and STM study of an In nanocluster array on theSi(111)−7×7surface

“…In particular, the Si͑111͒-7 ϫ 7 surface superstructure has been successfully employed to get highly ordered self-assembled arrays of identically sized nanoclusters for group-III metals ͑Al, Ga, In, and Tl͒, and Pb. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Other metals such as Ag, Au, Cu, Na, Co, Mn, and Fe, [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and semiconductor elements such as Si and Ge ͑Refs. 24-26͒ also form nanocluster arrays on this surface but with lower degree of orders in sizes and positions.…”

Silver- and Gold-Ordered Structures on Single-Crystal Silicon Surface After Thermal Deposition

“…The dynamics of the process of Ag spraying on the surface of Si (111) 7 × 7 is studied in detail in the paper [12]. Earlier researches indicate that silver atoms are randomly captured and held by halves of the unit cells that compose reconstructed surface of Si (111) 7 × 7, while the diffusion is observed within the halves of these unit cells [13, 14]. However, inter-cell jumps are very rare, that is proved by the long lifetimes of particles inside the halves of the unit cells [15].…”