Abstract
The influence of Ge substitutional defects and vacancies on the charge-density wave phase transition in the phase of Sn on Ge(111) has been studied using a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Above 105 K, Ge substitutional defects stabilize regions with symmetry that grow with decreasing temperature and can be described by a superposition of exponentially damped waves. At low temperatures, defect-defect density-wave-mediated interactions force an alignment of the defects onto a honeycomb sublattice that supports the low-temperature phase. This defect-mediated phase transition is completely reversible. The length scales involved in this defect-defect interaction dictate the domain size
- Received 16 July 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.2235
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