Non-Contact Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy of Coexisting Reconstructions on Si(111)

Abstract

The coexisting metastable reconstructions of the Si(111) surface have been investigated by non contact-atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM). True atomic resolution has been achieved in the NC-AFM imaging of the 7× 7, c(2× 8), 2× 2, c(2× 4), and √3× √3 coexisting reconstructions of the same quenched surface sample. A simple comparison with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) results is given, and imaging of 2× 1 π-bonded chains island is also reported. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2005.258]