Selective doping in a surface band and atomic structures of the Ge(111) (√3 × √3)R30°-Au surface

J Phys Condens Matter. 2013 Jan 30;25(4):045007. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/25/4/045007. Epub 2012 Dec 17.

Abstract

Atomic and electronic structures of the Ge(111) (√3 × √3)R30°-Au surface with two metallic bands are studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). The bias-voltage-dependent periodic structure observed by STM is consistent with the electronic structure calculated for an optimized conjugate honeycomb chained trimer (CHCT) model. Electrons are selectively doped to the electron-like surface metallic band by excess Au atoms, which form triangle structures with the Au trimers of the CHCT model. The discrepancy for the bottom energy of the electron-like band between the ARPES results and those of the calculation is attributed to the doping. The triangle structure is mobile at room temperature, but stable at 80 K. Both Au and Ge atoms deposited at room temperature on the Ge(111) (√3 × √3)R30°-Au surface dope electrons to the electron-like surface metallic band. Moreover, the Au atoms increase the spin-orbit interaction at the surface, and thus make the splitting of the spin-polarized band due to the interaction larger than that before the deposition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't