Si Dimer Chain on Si(100)-2×1:H Surface Fabricated by Scanning Tunneling Microscope

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Abstract
In order to fabricate an atomic chain with metal, semiconductor and insulator phases on an atomically flat insulating surface by manipulating single atoms one by one with an ultrahigh-vacuum scanning tunneling microscope (UHV STM), we investigated the Si(100)-2×1 surface and its hydrogen termination. The obtained STM images show that the Si(100)-2×1 surface will have fewer defects when appropriate preparation is employed. We successfully prepared the monohydride Si(100)-2×1:H surface using the dry etching process. Hydrogen atoms on the Si(100)-2×1:H surface can be extracted by applying both positive and negative voltage pulses between the STM tip and the sample surface with a certain tunneling current. This implies that the mechanism for extracting hydrogen atoms on the monohydride surface is due to not only electron excitation but also field evaporation. There is a pairing effect to force extracted hydrogen atoms in pairs from dimers. Using this technique, we fabricated a Si dimer chain on the Si(100)-2×1:H surface by removing pairs of hydrogen atoms.