Identification of the Products from the Reaction of Chlorine with the Silicon(111)-(7 × 7) Surface

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 248; no. 4957; pp. 838 - 840
• Main Authors: Boland, John J., Villarrubia, J. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 18-05-1990; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Adatoms; Astronomical research; Atoms; Atoms & subatomic particles; Binding energy; Chemistry; Chlorine; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Silicon; Solid-gas interface; Spectra; Surface physical chemistry; Inorganic adsorbate; Gas solid adsorption; Scanning tunneling microscopy; Surface reaction; Semiconductor materials; Chlorine; Gas solid interface; Silicon; Inorganic adsorbent; Experimental study; Physical method; Surface structure
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.248.4957.838

The various products from the reaction of chlorine (Cl) with the adatom layer of the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface have been identified with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Initially, a single Cl atom reacts with the adatom dangling bond. At higher surface coverage, additional Cl atoms insert themselves into the Si-Si backbonds between the adatom and rest-atom layers, producing adatoms that have reacted with two or three Cl atoms. These products are characterized by different registries with respect to the underlying rest layer and appear in STM images as adatoms of different sizes, consistent with the breaking of Si-Si backbonds and the formation of new Si-Cl bonds.