Conductance of Ag on Si(111): a two-dimensional percolation problem

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Abstract
It is well known that silver grows epitaxially on Si(111)-7*7. The authors deposited several monolayers of silver on silicon under UHV conditions (p=1*10-10 mbar). Due to the perfect substrate they were able to observe electric conduction of one monolayer of silver. They made in situ measurements of the conductance during growth in the temperature range 50-130 K. The authors show that conduction starts at a critical coverage less than a monolayer, and the critical coverage decreases for increasing deposition temperature. They discuss a percolation model and several possible growth modes.