Cooperative phenomena in self-assembled nucleation of 3 × 4-In/Si(100) surface magic clusters
Journal
Surface Science
Journal Volume
604
Journal Issue
13-14
Start Page
1116
End Page
1120
ISSN
00396028
Date Issued
2010
Author(s)
Utas, O.A.
Denisov, N.V.
Kotlyar, V.G.
Zotov, A.V.
Saranin, A.A.
Lai, M.Y.
Wei, C.M.
Wang, Y.L.
Abstract
Using statistical analysis of the scanning tunneling microscopy images of the 3 × 4-In surface magic cluster (SMC) arrays on Si(100)1 × 2 substrate at low In coverages, the main regularities of the space distribution of the nucleated SMCs have been established. It has been found that a nucleated SMC perturbs the surface potential relief within a limited zone around itself in a way that some of the sites in the zone demonstrate a great preference for nucleating a new cluster, while in the other sites the nucleation is greatly suppressed. Outside the zone, the nucleation probability is close to that of the random nucleation simulated using Monte-Carlo technique. Energetic background of the observed phenomena has been proved using density-functional theory calculations, which clearly demonstrate that the lower the formation energy the higher the occurrence probability of a given cluster-pair configuration. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Atom-solid interactions
Indium
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)
Silicon
Surface structure, morphology, roughness and topography
Type
journal article