No Arabic abstract
The formation of a novel surface reconstruction upon Co deposition on freshly cleaved Ge(111)2x1 surfaces is studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at low temperature. The deposited Co atoms are immobile at substrate temperatures of 4.5K, while they can diffuse along the upper pi-bonded chains at a temperature of 80K and higher. This mobility results in accumulation of Co atoms at atomic steps, at domain boundaries as well as on atomically flat Ge terraces at, e.g., vacancies or adatoms, where reconstructed Co/Ge intermixing layers are formed. Voltage dependent STM images reveal that the newly reconstructed surface locally exhibits a highly ordered atomic structure, having the same periodicity as that of the initial 2x1 reconstruction. In addition, it shows a double periodicity along the [2-1-1] direction, which can be related to the modified electronic properties of the pi-bonded chains.
We propose a two-dimensional phase-field-crystal model for the (2$times$1)-(1$times$1) phase transitions of Si(001) and Ge(001) surfaces. The dimerization in the 2$times$1 phase is described with a phase-field-crystal variable which is determined by solving an evolution equation derived from the free energy. Simulated periodic arrays of dimerization variable is consistent with scanning-tunnelling-microscopy images of the two dimerized surfaces. Calculated temperature dependence of the dimerization parameter indicates that normal dimers and broken ones coexist between the temperatures describing the charactristic temperature width of the phase-transition, $T_L$ and $T_H$, and a first-order phase transition takes place at a temperature between them. The dimerization over the whole temperature is determined. These results are in agreement with experiment. This phase-field-crystal approach is applicable to phase-transitions of other reconstructed surface phases, especially semiconductor $ntimes$1 reconstructed surface phases.
We have studied the surface modifications as well as the surface roughness of the InP(111) surfaces after 1.5 MeV Sb ion implantations. Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM) has been utilized to investigate the ion implanted InP(111) surfaces. We observe the formation of nanoscale defect structures on the InP surface. The density, height and size of the nanostructures have been investigated here as a function of ion fluence. The rms surface roughness, of the ion implanted InP surfaces, demonstrates two varied behaviors as a function of Sb ion fluence. Initially, the roughness increases with increasing fluence. However, after a critical fluence the roughness decreases with increasing fluence. We have further applied the technique of Raman scattering to investigate the implantation induced modifications and disorder in InP. Raman Scattering results demonstrate that at the critical fluence, where the decrease in surface roughness occurs, InP lattice becomes amorphous.
Changing the morphology of the growing surface and the nature of residual impurities in (Ge,Mn) layers - by using different substrates - dramatically changes the morphology of the ferromagnetic Mn-rich inclusions and the magnetotransport properties. We obtained p-type layers with nanocolumns, either parallel or entangled, and n-type layers with spherical clusters. Holes exhibit an anomalous Hall effect, and electrons exhibit a tunneling magnetoresistance, both with a clear dependence on the magnetization of the Mn-rich inclusions; holes exhibit orbital MR, and electrons show only the normal Hall effect, and an additional component of magnetoresistance due to weak localization, all three being independent of the magnetic state of the Mn rich inclusions. Identified mechanisms point to the position of the Fermi level of the Mn-rich material with respect to the valence band of germanium as a crucial parameter in such hybrid layers.
We examine the structure and the evolution of Ge islands epitaxially grown on vicinal Si(111) surfaces by scanning tunneling microscopy. Contrary to what is observed on the singular surface, three-dimensional Ge nanoislands form directly through the elastic relaxation of step-edge protrusions during the unstable step-flow growth. As the substrate misorientation is increased, the islands undergo a shape transformation which is driven by surface energy minimization and controlled by the miscut angle. Using finite element simulations, we show that the dynamics of islanding observed in the experiment results from the anisotropy of the strain relaxation.
Relating magnetotransport properties to specific spin textures at surfaces or interfaces is an intense field of research nowadays. Here, we investigate the variation of the electrical resistance of Ge(111) grown epitaxially on semi-insulating Si(111) under the application of an external magnetic field. We find a magnetoresistance term which is linear in current density j and magnetic field B, hence odd in j and B, corresponding to a unidirectional magnetoresistance. At 15 K, for I = 10 $mu$A (or j = 0.33 A/m) and B = 1 T, it represents 0.5 % of the zero field resistance, a much higher value compared to previous reports on unidirectional magnetoresistance. We ascribe the origin of this magnetoresistance to the interplay between the externally applied magnetic field and the current-induced pseudo-magnetic field in the spin-splitted subsurface states of Ge(111). This unidirectional magnetoresistance is independent of the current direction with respect to the Ge crystal axes. It progressively vanishes, either using a negative gate voltage due to carrier activation into the bulk (without spin-splitted bands), or by increasing the temperature due to the Rashba energy splitting of the subsurface states lower than $sim$58 k$_B$. The highly developed technologies on semiconductor platforms would allow the rapid optimization of devices based on this phenomenon.