ATOMIC MOTION-INDUCED BY A SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE TIP ON THE SI(111) SURFACE

Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), we have observed the STM-ti p-induced atomic motion of the Si adatoms in the Si(111)-(7x7) surface structure near out-of-phase boundaries in the structure. In order to excite the motion of si adatoms, the tip was fixed at a certain height at every pixel in the lateral scan and the sample bias was changed st epwise. Although the motion of Si adatoms occurs in a complicated mann er, analysis shows that its elemental process is quite simple. Namely, the Si adatom jumps from an occupied T-4 site to an unoccupied T-4 si te.