Adatom concentration distribution on an extrawide Si(111) terrace during sublimation

详细

The formation of an adsorption layer on the Si(111) surface during sublimation at temperatures of 1000–1100 °C and subsequent quenching at T = 750 °C is studied by methods of insitu ultrahigh-vacuum reflection electron microscopy and exsitu atomic force microscopy. The adatom concentration distribution on an extrawide (~60 μm) atomically flat terrace is determined for the first time, and the diffusion length x_s = 31±2 μm at T = 1000 °C is obtained. The analysis of the temperature dependence of the equilibrium concentration of adatoms near a monatomic step allows pioneering measurements of the energy necessary for adatom detachment from the step and attachment to the terrace E_ad ≈ 0.68 eV. Based on these results, the energy parameters for some atomic processes on the Si(111) surface are estimated.