GaAs(110) terrace-width distributions and kink formation

Abstract

Scanning-tunneling-microscopy studies of [1\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}12] and [11\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}0] step structures on cleaved GaAs(110) show that [1\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}12] steps are straight whereas [11\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}0] steps are made up of kinks along [1\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}12]. These step and kink structures are very different from those on Si surfaces. Through quantitative analysis of terrace-width and kink-length distributions, we show that [11\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}0] steps are weakly interacting while kinks are noninteracting.