Determining the Surface Structure of Si(111)-(√3x√3)R30°-B with Low-Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED)
Open Access
Author:
Marino, Kristin Elizabeth
Area of Honors:
Physics
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Renee Denise Diehl, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Richard Wallace Robinett, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
LEED Boron Silicon Physics Low-Energy Electron Diffraction Surface SATLEED EasyLEED
Abstract:
Metal-semiconductor interfaces are important for the function and manufacture of advanced electronics, such as those used in computers, tablets and phones. They also exhibit many interesting physical phenomena that are interesting from a fundamental point of view, including exotic phases and phase transitions(1). This study involves the analysis and modeling of the surface structure of a thin film of boron on the Si(111) surface. The addition of metal atoms to the surface of Si(111) simplifies its structure by removing a “rippling” that is present on the clean surface. The low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) data were measured at a surface temperature of 90 K at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The LEED analysis utilized the SATLEED analysis programs. The results are similar to those obtained in an earlier LEED study for this interface, but the precision is higher due to the larger dataset employed(2,3). The results of this study compared well with previous studies, especially a previous photoelectron diffraction (PED) study done by Baumgartel et al.(2). The Pendry R-factor obtained was 0.35 with a variance of 0.03.
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(2) P.Baumgartel, J.J.Paggel, M.Hasselblatt, K.Horn, V.Fernandez, O.Schaff, J.H.Weaver,
A.M.Bradshaw, D.P.Woodruff, E.Rotenberg and J.Denlinger. Phys.Rev.B 59 (1999) 13014
(3) H. Huang, S. Y. Tong, J. Quinn, and F. Jona, Phys. Rev. B 41 (1990) 3276