Surface extended x‐ray adsorption fine structure studies of the Si(001) 2×1–Sb interface

Abstract

Surface extended x‐ray adsorption fine structure (SEXAFS) has been used to investigate the structure of Sb on the Si(001) 2×1 surface. The coverage of Sb which remains after annealing thick layers at 375 °C, previously reported to be one monolayer (ML), is found in this work to form a disordered overlayer with three dimensional Sb clusters. This finding is concluded from the Sb L3 absorption spectra which are similar for this coverage to that of bulk Sb. After a 550 °C anneal, Auger electron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) show that about 1 ML of Sb remains. Phase and amplitude analysis of the Sb L3 edge SEXAFS shows that the remaining Sb atoms occupy a modified bridge site with a Si–Sb bond length of 2.63±0.04 Å. The Sb atoms form dimers with a Sb–Sb bond length of 2.91±0.04 Å, which is almost identical to the bulk Sb–Sb bond length of 2.90 Å. The Sb atoms lie 1.74±0.06 Å above the Si(001) surface. STM confirms the dimer structure of the Sb overlayer.