Growth of atomic indium chains -1D islands -on the Si(100)-2×1 surface was observed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at room temperature and simulated by means of a kinetic Monte Carlo method. Density of indium islands and island size distribution were obtained for various deposition rates and coverage. STM observation of growth during deposition of indium provided information on growth kinetics and relaxation of grown layers. Important role of C-type defects at adsorption of metal atoms was observed. Measured growth characteristics were simulated using a microscopic model with anisotropic surface diffusion and forbidden zones along the metal chains. An analysis of experimental and simulation data shows that detachment of indium adatoms from the chains substantially influences a growth scenario and results in monotonously decreasing chain length distribution function at low coverage. Diffusion barriers determined from the simulations correspond to almost isotropic diffusion of indium adatoms on the surface. The results are discussed with respect to data reported in earlier papers for other metals.
By means of scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, we have investigated the electronic structure of Bi nanolines on clean and H-passivated Si(100) surfaces. Maps of the local density of states (LDOS) images of the Bi nanolines are presented for the first time. The spectra obtained for nanolines on a clean Si surface and the LDOS images agree with ab initio predicted spectra for the Haiku structure. For nanolines on a H-passivated surface, the spectra obtained suggest that the Bi nanoline may locally pin the surface Fermi level, and the LDOS images taken at low bias show a distribution of states different to what was expected at the Bi nanolines. The results are discussed with respect to use of the nanolines as atomic wire interconnections.
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