INFLUENCE OF SIH4 DEPOSITION ON THE SI(111) 1X1-]7X7 PHASE-TRANSITION

The kinetics of the transition from the high-temperature Si(111) 1x1 p hase to the 7x7 reconstruction is affected by an external Si source, w hich retards the transition velocity significantly. The phase transiti on can bet frozen at much slower cooling rates and on narrower terrace s than without Si supply. Areas of a high-density 1x1 and of a 7x7 pha se are observed by scanning tunneling microscopy after quenching acros s the transition on terraces of less than 2000 Angstrom in width. The 7x7 domain size distribution follows a Gamma distribution, pointing to random nucleation and uniform growth rate of the domains on the terra ces.