INITIAL-STAGES OF PRASEODYMIUM GROWTH ON SI(111) - MORPHOLOGY AND ELECTRONIC-STRUCTURE

An STM study of the Pr-Si(111)-(7 x 7) interface reveals a much more h eterogeneous growth morphology than is suggested by diffraction techni ques and spectroscopies which average over the surface. Deposition of 1 ML followed by annealing at 650 degrees C gives the most orderly gro wth, but this falls short of 2D epitaxy. At high temperatures (>1000 d egrees C), the small amount of rare earth remaining on the surface sta bilises some novel Si(111) surface reconstructions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.