Initial growth of silver on Ge(111) studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

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Abstract
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has been used to study the Ge(111) surface after submonolayer depositions of Ag. At the lowest coverages a (4×4) reconstruction, with small insets of a (3×1) edge structure, is observed. Based on the STM images we propose a mixed Ag and Ge adatom structure for the (4×4) reconstruction, in which the adatoms have local (1×1) and (2×2) arrangements corresponding to a Ag coverage of 6/16 monolayers. The (3×1) structure appears to have a configuration similar to the Si(111)/Ag-(3×1) reconstruction, although in this case it has a much more limited extension, restricted to a few unit cells in the near vicinity of step edges and phase boundaries. At higher coverages, after the completion of a full (4×4)/(3×1) surface, a (√3 × √3 )R30° structure appears showing STM images similar to those previously published for the Si(111)/Ag system.