Initial stage of Ag growth on Si(001) studied by high-resolution Rutherford-backscattering spectroscopy

Abstract

The initial stage of Ag growth on the Si(001)2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1 surface is observed at 520 and 760 K by monolayer-resolvable high-resolution Rutherford-backscattering spectroscopy. At 760 K, the coverage of Ag saturates at 0.5 ML. (1 ML =6.78\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{14}$ atoms/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$) after formation of a two-dimensional Ag layer. The position of the Ag atom is determined from observed inelastic energy losses of He ions scattered from the Ag atoms. The growth mode at 520 K is found to be the Stranski-Krastanov mode with a critical thickness of 0.5 ML for the initial layer growth.