Atomic scale study of strain relaxation in Sn islands on Sn-induced Si(111)-(2 3~(1/2)×2 3~(1/2)) surface

摘要

Surface structure of the Sn islands 5 ML high, prepared on Si(III)-(2 3~(1/2) 2 3~(1/2))-Sn substrate, is investigated by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. Due to the elastic strain relaxation in-the islands, the in-plane unit cell structure distorts and the apparent height of the surface atoms varies regularly to form an overall modulated strip structure. The quantum well states are observed to depend on the relative position within this structure, which implies the change of the surface chemical potential induced by the elastic strain relaxation as well.