Fabrication of rectangular holes along 2×4 unit cells on GaAs(001) reconstructed surface with a scanning tunneling microscope

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 34; no. 6B; pp. L727 - L729
• Main Authors: SUGIYAMA, H, SHINOHARA, M, TANIMOTO, M, INOUE, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Japanese journal of applied physics 01-06-1995
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Electron, ion, and scanning probe microscopy; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Integrated circuits; Materials science; Microelectronics: LSI, VLSI, ULSI; integrated circuit fabrication technology; Physics; Scanning probe microscopy: scanning tunneling, atomic force, scanning optical, magnetic force, etc; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Solid surfaces and solid-solid interfaces; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Surface structure and topography; Surface treatments; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Patterning; Gallium arsenides; Inorganic compounds; Semiconductor materials; Surfaces; Binary compounds; Surface treatments; Nanostructures; Experimental study; STM; Surface reconstruction; Holes; Dimers
• ISSN: 0021-4922; 1347-4065
• DOI: 10.1143/jjap.34.l727

The modification of GaAs (001)-(2×4) reconstructed surface with a scanning tunneling microscope is studied. By applying a high bias voltage pulse between the sample and tip, surface atoms can be extracted and nanometer-scale rectangular “holes” can be made. The sides of the rectangles are along the [110] and the [11̄0] directions, reflecting a surface reconstructed structure. It is considered that isolated As dimers in (2×4) unit cells and unit cells with empty adjacent unit cells are energetically unstable. The reconstructed surface will be useful in the fabrication of nanometer-scale patterns.