C. Nutzenadel et al., STM INVESTIGATIONS WITH ATOMIC-RESOLUTION ON THE (2X1) MONOHYDRIDE NATURAL DOPED DIAMOND (100) SURFACE, Surface science, 369(1-3), 1996, pp. 111-116
We investigated natural p-doped (100) diamond by means of STM. To achi
eve a smooth and clean surface, the diamond was polished in a hydrogen
plasma at 870 degrees C. In contrast to previous work, the STM measur
ement have been done on an etched and not on an overgrown diamond surf
ace. After the hydrogen treatment the surface was free of any contamin
ation, and we characterised the smoothing process with AFM and LEED. W
hile the roughness of the surface was determined by AFM to be lower th
an 0.8 nm (RMS) LEED showed a (2 x 1) reconstruction without any annea
ling. UPS measurements revealed the surface to have a negative electro
n affinity (NEA). STM at ambient conditions showed dimer rows of the (
2 x 1) monohydride reconstructed surface. Large atomically flat terrac
es (>17 mm x 17 nm) were found on the hydrogen-plasma treated surface,
which is an indication of effective surface polishing.