Atomic-Scale Study of Ge-Induced Incommensurate Phases on Si（111）

Two Ge-induced incommensurate phases, γ and β, on Si（111） are observed and studied by {／it in situ} scanning tunneling microscopy. The γ phase consists of aligned triangular domains whose stacking sequence is faulted with respect to the Si（111）-1×1 surface. The β phase consists of two kinds of triangular domains whose stacking sequences are faulted and unfaulted with respect to the Si（111）-1×1 surface, respectively. In the β phase, two types of domain walls, zigzag＇＇ and face-to-face＇＇, form to release the strain. The triangular domains all exhibit a quasi-1×1 hexagonal close-packed structure. By studying the structural evolution from magic clusters to incommensurate structures, the structure models for γ and β phases are proposed.