Observation of true c(8 × 2) symmetry in scanning tunnelling microscopy images of the clean InSb(001) surface

Filled and empty state scanning tunnelling microscopy images of the sputtered and annealed InSb(001) surface are presented. The sputter-anneal preparation generates a surface with two distinct phases. The dominant phase possesses a unit cell with true c(8 × 2) symmetry, whereas the other phase is attributed to an asymmetric 1 × 3 reconstruction. The presence of a c(8 × 2) unit cell in filled state images is in contrast to previous reports, which identified only a 4 × 1 unit cell. The true c(8 × 2) symmetry further indicates, the available structural model is used as a guide, that the current interpretation of features in filled state images is incorrect. This result may necessitate a reevaluation of the structural model for the InSb(001)-c(8 × 2) surface.