Atomic scale engineering of nanostructures at silicon carbide surfaces

✍ Scribed by Patrick Soukiassian; Vincent Derycke; Fabrice Semond; Victor Yu. Aristov

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 669 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0026-2692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mejo.2005.04.025

✦ Synopsis

The atomic scale ordering and properties of cubic silicon carbide surfaces are investigated by room and high-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. In this review, we will focus on the Si-terminated b-SiC(100) surfaces only. Self-formation of Si atomic lines and dimer vacancy chains on the b-SiC(100) surface is taking place at the phase transition between the 3!2 (Si-rich) and c(4!2) surface reconstructions. Using a rigorous protocol in surface preparation, it is possible to build very long, very straight and defect free Si atomic lines, forming a very large superlattice of massively parallel lines. These self-organized atomic lines are driven by stress. They have unprecedented characteristics with the highest thermal stability ever achieved for nanostructures on a surface (900 8C) and the longest atomic lines ever built on a surface (micrometer scale long). Investigating their dynamics, we learn that their dismantling at high-temperature results from collective and individual mechanisms including one-by-one dimer removal. Overall, this is a model system especially suitable for nanophysics and nanotechnologies.