Scanning tunneling microscopy studies show that atomically flat but slightl
y corrugated films of Ag(111) can be produced by depositing similar to 15 A
ngstrom of Ag on GaAs(110) at 40 K and then annealing at 300 K. These films
are six layers thick. but they also contain voids that extend to the GaAs
surface. Time-dependent imaging shows void growth due to spontaneous dewett
ing. Void growth is accompanied by the transfer of Ag atoms onto the terrac
es where elongated, single-height Ag islands formed, with patterns reflecti
ng the corrugation of the Ag film. These results demonstrate that these fil
ms are thermodynamically unstable, and they reveal void growth and geometry
for a multilayer film. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.