UHV-REM study of gold adsorption on the Si(111) surface

The initial stages of gold adsorption on the silicon (111) surface with different morphology have been investigated by ultra high vacuum reflection electron microscopy (UHV-REM). The main attention was paid to the sequent stages of three dimensional island nucleation of gold on the Si(111) surface at various substrate temperatures. The influence of step bunches created under DC heating of the sample on surface distribution of the three dimensional gold islands has been revealed. Contribution of the heating electric current to the migration and shape modification processes of the three dimensional gold islands was investigated. A dominant migration of the gold islands in the step-up direction independently on the direction of the heating electric current was found. The obtained results evidence that the creation of chains of gold islands without application of any lithography is possible by means of the self-organized processes on the silicon (111) surface during gold adsorption.