Order and disorder at the C-face of SiC: A hybrid surface reconstruction

Eduardo MacHado-Charry, César González, Yannick J. Dappe, Laurence Magaud, Normand Mousseau, Pascal Pochet*

*Korrespondierende/r Autor/-in für diese Arbeit

Publikation: Beitrag in einer FachzeitschriftArtikelBegutachtung

Abstract

In this Letter, we explore the potential energy surface (PES) of the 3 × 3 C-face of SiC by means of the density functional theory. Following an extensive and intuitive exploration, we propose a model for this surface reconstruction based on an all-silicon over-layer forming an ordered honeycomb-Kagome network. This model is compared to the available scanning tunneling microscope (STM) topographies and conductance maps. Our STM simulations reproduce the three main characteristics observed in the measurements, revealing the underlying complex and hybrid passivation scheme. Indeed, below the ordered over-layer, the competition between two incompatible properties of silicon induces a strong disorder in the charge transfer between unpassivated dangling bonds of different chemistry. This effect in conjunction with the glassy-like character of the PES explains why it has taken decades to provide an accurate atomistic representation for this structure.

Originalspracheenglisch
Aufsatznummer141605
FachzeitschriftApplied Physics Letters
Jahrgang116
Ausgabenummer14
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 6 Apr. 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physik und Astronomie (sonstige)

Fingerprint

Untersuchen Sie die Forschungsthemen von „Order and disorder at the C-face of SiC: A hybrid surface reconstruction“. Zusammen bilden sie einen einzigartigen Fingerprint.

Dieses zitieren