Depth profiling of melting and metallization in Si(111) and Si(001) surfaces

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 107; no. 16; p. 166103
• Main Authors: Gunnella, R, Ali, M, Abbas, M, D'Amico, F, Principi, E, Di Cicco, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Physical Society 14-10-2011
• Subjects: Condensed Matter; Materials Science; Physics
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.107.166103

An original approach for measuring the depth profile of melting and metallization of the Si(111) and Si(001) surfaces is proposed and applied. The different probing depths of the Auger electron and electron energy loss (EELS) spectroscopies are exploited to study the number of molten and metallic layers within 5-30 Å from the surface up to about 1650 K. Melting is limited to 3 atomic layers in Si(001) in the range 1400-1650 K while the number of molten layers grows much faster (5 layers at about 1500 K) in Si(111) as also indicated by the L(3)-edge shift observed by EELS. The relationship between melting and metallization is briefly discussed.