On the structure of the Si(103) surface

TL;DR

This paper investigates the atomic structure of the Si(103) surface, proposing multiple low-energy reconstructions and explaining the observed disorder as coexistence of different morphologies with similar energies.

Contribution

It introduces new low-energy reconstruction models for Si(103) and challenges previous models by showing their high surface energies, suggesting they are unlikely to be observed experimentally.

Findings

Multiple low-energy reconstruction models for Si(103) surface.

Disorder arises from coexistence of reconstructions with similar energies.

Previous models have higher surface energies and are less likely to be observed.

Abstract

Although (103) is a stable nominal orientation for both silicon and germanium, experimental observations revealed that in the case of silicon this surface remains disordered on an atomic scale even after careful annealing. We report here a set of low-energy reconstruction models corresponding to $1\times 2$, $2\times 2$, and $1\times 4$ periodicities, and propose that the observed disorder stems from the presence of several coexisting reconstructions with different morphologies and nearly equal surface energies. These models also suggest that the model structures previously reported in the literature for the (103) orientation have very high surface energies and are thus unlikely to be experimentally observed.