Abstract
Density functional calculations predict that the In/Si(111)-(22) surface, a key intermediate phase leading to the complex In phase development on Si(111), consists of an intriguing one-atom-thick In overlayer. In atoms of 1 monolayer (ML) (referred to as one In atom per surface Si) there forms a quasihoneycomb network of two In units, a monomer and a triangular trimer, which well accounts for the measured microscopy images and In 4 core-level shifts. This In single layer is, however, semiconducting with a band gap of 0.47 eV and thus could not represent the long-sought two-dimensional (2D) limit of metallic In overlayers. But its In coverage of 1 ML sets a definite lower bound on the coverage for such a 2D-metallic one-atom-thick In overlayer.
- Received 30 December 2013
- Revised 1 April 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.165304
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