Interaction of oxygen with Zn(0001) surface

EELS and XPS studies show the presence of both adsorbed atomic and molecular oxygen at low temperatures. The nature of the oxide layer formed on the surface has been characterized by angular dependent and variable temperature EELS. A loss peak around 550 cm^?1 is assigned to an electronic transition.     

Silicon interaction with the (0001) surface of La and Gd layers

A study is reported on a system consisting of a Si layer on the surface of rare-earth metals (REMs), which is the reverse of a rare-earth metal on silicon, the system of current widespread interest. Interaction of silicon with the (0001) surface of trivalent La and Gd single-crystal layers grown on a W(110) surface is studied by Auger spectroscopy combined with layer-by-layer argon-ion etching of the system and photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that silicon interacts with the La(0001) and Gd(0001) surfaces even at room temperature with the formation of silicide, but no mutual mixing of the silicon and substrate atoms occurs. When the Si/La(0001) and Si/Gd(0001) systems are heated at 400°C, silicon does not diffuse into the bulk of the metal substrate or to the REM/W(110) interface.     

BCx layers with honeycomb lattices on an NbB2(0001) surface

At elevated temperatures of 1000-1500 K, carbon (C) atoms that segregated to a surface and mixed with the boron (B) honeycomb lattice resulted in the formation of three different BC(x) layers as the topmost layers of NbB(2)(0001). Two of the layers were commensurate lattices: √7 × √7 and √3 × √3 structures; the third was incommensurate. The characteristic features of the √3 × √3 lattice with a honeycomb structure are discussed on the basis of the experimental data.     

Interaction of nitrogen dioxide molecules with the surface of silicon nanocrystals in porous silicon layers

The methods of infrared absorption spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance are used for studying the effect of adsorption of NO₂ molecules, which are strong acceptors of electrons, on the electronic and optical properties of silicon nanocrystals in mesoporous silicon layers. It is found that the concentration of free charge carriers (holes) in silicon nanocrystals, which exhibits a nonmonotonic dependence on the NO₂ pressure, sharply increases in the presence of these molecules. At the same time, a monotonic increase in the concentration of dangling silicon bonds (P_b1 centers) is observed. A microscopic model proposed for explaining this effect presumes the formation of donor-acceptor pairs P ₊ ^b1 -(NO₂)^? on the surface of nanocrystals, which ensure an increase in the hole concentration in nanocrystals, as well as P_b1 centers, which are hole-trapping centers. The proposed model successfully explains a substantial increase in photoconductivity (by two or three orders of magnitude) in the layers of porous silicon in the presence of NO₂ molecules; the increment in the concentration of free charge carriers is detected within an order of magnitude of this quantity. The results can be used in designing electronic and luminescence devices based on silicon nanocrystals.     

C60分子与石墨(0001)、硅(111)面的碰撞

用分子动力学模拟的方法和Tersoff多体势函数对以一定能量入射的C 60在石墨(0001)表面以及硅(111)表面碰撞的过程进行模拟研究.结果发现:碰撞过程是高度非弹性的,在弹回过程中,C60分子质心的运动可被看作是在准谐势下的运动 .C60以240 eV初始能量入射到石墨表面时,C60分子有严重的扭曲,最终将平铺在石墨表面形成薄膜;C60分子以30 eV初始动能入射到石墨表面时,将保持完好球形沉积在石墨表面;C60分子以60 eV的初始动能碰撞硅(111)表面时,C60分子最终沉积在硅表面,碰撞过程中C60分子有形变.     

Magnetomechanical effect in silicon (Cz-Si) surface layers

The mechanical properties of near-surface layers of Czochralski-grown silicon crystals Cz-n-Si(111) have been found to undergo changes in response to an external constant magnetic field (B ?? 0.1 T). A magnetically induced variation in the microhardness, Young??s modulus, and coefficient of plasticity of silicon crystals correlates with the change in the lattice parameter and internal stresses of the sample. The growth of an oxide film under exposure to a magnetic field plays the principal role in the magnetomechanical effect due to a decrease in the concentration of oxygen complexes in the near-surface layers of the sample. In microstructured silicon, where the surface is considerably more developed, the magnetic field induces more profound changes in the internal stresses as compared to single crystals.     

Epitaxial silicon oxynitride layer on a 6H-SiC(0001) surface

Hydrogen-gas etching of a 6H-SiC(0001) surface and subsequent annealing in nitrogen atmosphere leads to the formation of a silicon oxynitride (SiON) epitaxial layer. A quantitative low-energy electron diffraction analysis revealed that the SiON layer has a hetero-double-layer structure: a silicate monolayer on a silicon nitride monolayer via Si-O-Si bridge bonds. There are no dangling bonds in the unit cell, which explains the fact that the structure is robust against air exposure. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measured on the SiON layer shows a bulk SiO2-like band gap of approximately 9 eV. Great potential of this new epitaxial layer for device applications is described.     

Analysis of the possibility of the spin-orbit origin of surface state splitting in thin Mg(0001) layers on W(110) and Mo(110)

A set of magnesium films ranging in thickness from submonolayer to a few tens of atomic layers grown on single-crystal W(110) has revealed film-thickness dependent splitting of states localized energywise close to the magnesium surface state. Literature refers to several models describing the origin of this splitting; in one case, it is treated as substrate-induced spin-orbit splitting, and in another, as due to formation of nondegenerate pairs of even and odd surface states penetrating deep into the film bulk. The proposed models draw upon studies of films more than five monolayers thick. A comparative investigation of the Mg/W(110) and Mg/Mo(110) systems has been carried out for magnesium films of different, starting from submonolayer, thicknesses, which did not substantiate the spin-orbit origin of this splitting and suggests instead formation on the substrate-film interface of hybridized states, with their variation with thickness being assigned to variation in the contribution due to the magnesium surface states. Original Russian Text ? A.M. Shikin, D.E. Marchenko, N.A. Vinogradov, G.V. Prudnikova, A.G. Rybkin, V.K. Adamchuk, O. Rader, 2009, published in Fizika Tverdogo Tela, 2009, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 572–583.     

Adsorption of barium and rare-earth metals on silicon

The change in the work function of the Si(111) surface caused by deposition of a submonolayer film of barium has been calculated with due account of dipole-dipole adatom repulsion and metallization effects. The results of the calculations agree satisfactorily with experimental data. The character of the variation in the model parameters in the Ba-Sm-Eu-Yb series is discussed. The electron tunneling probability from an adatom quasi-level to the substrate conduction band and the energy barrier for interatomic transitions of electrons in an adlayer were estimated.     

Interaction of thin gold films with silicon

The study of thin (~ 10 monolayers) films Au on Si(III) after heating using LEED, ELS, AES, TEM, PES methods has been carried out. We came to the conclusion that gold on the silicon surface forms a chemical bond with the semiconductor forming surface phases with different electron structures, depending on the Si and Au concentrations.     

Ablation of silicon suboxide thin layers

We investigate the ablation of SiO _x thin films on fused silica substrates using single-pulse exposures at 193 nm and 248 nm. Two ablation modes are considered: front side (the surface of a film is irradiated from above) and rear side (a film is irradiated through its supporting substrate). Fluence is varied from below 200 mJ/cm² to above 3 J/cm². SiO _x films of thickness 200 nm, 400 nm, and 600 nm are ablated. In the case of rear-side illumination, at moderate fluences (around 0.5 mJ/cm²) the ablation depth corresponds roughly to the film thickness, above 1 J/cm² part of the substrate is ablated as well. In the case of front-side ablation the single-pulse ablation depth is limited for all film thicknesses to less than 200 nm even at fluences up to 4 J/cm². Experimental results are discussed in relation to film thickness, fluence, and ablation mode. Simple numerical calculations are performed to clarify the influence of heat transport on the ablation process.     

Band structure of Au layers on the Ru(0001) and graphene/Ru(0001) surfaces

The electronic structures of Au monolayers on the Ru(0001) and graphene-coated Ru(0001) surfaces have been calculated by DFT method using the supercell (repeated-slab) approach. The local densities of states (LDOS) and band structures of the monolayer and bilayer Au films adsorbed on the graphene/Ru(0001) and those of free hexagonal Au layers are found to be very similar. This result indicates that the monolayer graphene almost completely screens the Au layers from the Ru(0001) substrate surface, so that electronic properties of Au films adsorbed on graphene are determined predominantly by the electronic structure of the Au adlayers, essentially independent on the electronic structure of the substrate surface.     

Vibrational properties of the graphite (0001) surface

The temperature dependence of low-energy electron diffraction intensity-energy spectra from the graphite (0001) surface has been measured from 100 to 600 K. The perpendicular and parallel effective surface Debye temperatures and the effective mean-square vibration amplitudes as a function of electron energy have been determined from these data. The values show surface enhancement and approach the bulk values with increasing electron energy. At energies below ≈ 100 eV, however, there is little anisotropy observed between the effective Debye temperatures parallel and perpendicular to the graphite surface.     

Multilayer relaxation of the Mg(0001) surface

We have Investigated the interplanar relaxation of the clean (0001)-(1 × 1) surface of magnesium at 100 K using a dynamical LEED I-V analysis. In contrast to almost all other metal surfaces, an expansion has been observed for the first interlayer spacing of this clean surface. Using an extended database, the results indicate that the first three interlayer spacings are relaxed from the bulk value by Δd₁₂ = +1.9 ± 0.3%, Δd₂₃ = +0.8 ± 0.4%, and Δd₃₄ = −0.4 ± 0.5%. A comparison of this observed multi relaxation with experimental and theoretical results for similar free-electron closepacked metal surfaces, e.g. Al(111), suggests that a surface expansion is a normal property of high electron density simple metals.     

Atomic structure of the scandium (0001) surface

The atomic structure of the scandium (0001) surface has been determined through a lowenergy-electron-diffraction analysis. Intensity profiles calculated on the basis of different structural models corresponding to different terminations of the bulk structure were compared to the experimental data. The comparison showed that the surface of scandium terminated in hep stacking and that the outermost layer spacing is 2.59 ± 0.02 Å corresponding to a ～2% contraction with respect to the bulk spacing (2.64 Å).     

Electron-phonon interaction at the Be(0001) surface

We present a first principle study of the electron-phonon (e-p) interaction at the Be(0001) surface. The real and imaginary parts of the e-p self-energy (Sigma) are calculated for the Gamma; surface state in the binding energy range from the Gamma; point to the Fermi level. Our calculation shows an overall good agreement with several photoemission data measured at high and low temperatures. Additionally, we show that the energy derivative of Re Sigma presents a strong temperature and energy variation close to E(F), making it difficult to measure its value just at E(F).     

Interaction of iron atoms with the oxidized silicon surface

The room-temperature interaction of iron atoms with the oxidized Si(100)2×1 surface at a coverage from a submonolayer to four monolayers is studied by core-level photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. Computer simulation of the Si 2p core electron spectra demonstrates that iron atoms penetrate beneath the silicon oxide even at room temperature. This process causes the initial silicon phases at the SiO_x/Si interface to disappear; gives rise to a complex ternary phase involving Fe, O, and Si atoms; and favors the formation of a Fe-Si solid solution at the interface.