Adsorption of Al on Si(100): A surface polymerization reaction

G. Brocks, P. J. Kelly, R. Car

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

172 Scopus citations

Abstract

We study the adsorption of Al on the Si(100) surface by ab initio calculations for a complete range of coverages from an isolated Al adatom up to full surface coverage. Analysis of the energetics of adsorption and the mobility of Al adatoms reveals that the long, one-dimensional strings of Al dimers observed experimentally result from a sequence of reaction steps which can be classified as a surface polymerization. The calculated local density of states (LDOS) of the adsorbed Al row is compared with scanning tunneling microscopy images. The LDOS characteristic of the reaction sites which mediate the polymerization should be observable by scanning tunneling spectroscopy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2786-2789
Number of pages4
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume70
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - 1993
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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