Pentagons in the Si$(331)-(12\times 1)$ surface reconstruction

Abstract

The microscopic structure of the high-index Si$(331)-(12\times 1)$ surface is investigated combining scanning tunneling microscopy with ab initio calculations. We present a structural model of the Si(331) surface, employing a reconstruction element composed of six pentagons integrated to the structure of the adjacent pentamer with an interstitial atom. We demonstrate that appropriately arranged additional pentagons significantly lower the surface energy of the high-index surface. The model predicts the existence of multiple Si(331) buckled configurations with similar energies.

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Universal building block for (1 1 0)-family silicon and germanium surfaces
• Crucial role of vibrational entropy in the Si(111)-7$\times$7 surface structure stability
• Atomic and electronic structure of the Si(331)-(12$\times$1) surface
• A comment on "Different STM Images of the Superstructure on a Clean Si(133)-6x2 Surface" (JETP Letters 105 (8), 477-483 (2017))
• Magnification effects in scanning tunneling microscopy: the role of surface radicals
• Dynamic buckling of Si tetramers on the Si(111)-7x7