A study of atomic vibrations on Si(001)(2x1)-Ge


To be published in Applied Surface Science (1997)

H.M.Tütüncü, S.J.Jenkins and G.P.Srivastava


Semiconductor Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, United Kingdom

We have studied the surface dynamics of Si(001)(2x1)-Ge within an adiabatic bond-charge model, the necessary structural and electronic input information coming from a recent ab initio pseudopotential calculation. The phonon spectrum of the Si(001)(2x1)-Ge surface is compared in detail with that of the Si(001)(2x1) surface presented in a recent bond-charge model study. We observe that the growth of Ge upon the Si(001)(2x1) causes some surface phonon energies to drop by up to 6 meV due to the large mass difference between Ge and Si. We also present a comparison of the phonon density of states of both surfaces and find that the growth of Ge upon the Si(001)(2x1) surface leads to new peaks in the density of states spectrum. Most notably, a strong peak in the lower energy tail of the bulk continuum constitutes a distinct signature of the Ge adlayer.


Stephen Jenkins
Last modified: Wed Jul 30 13:40:19 BST 1997