Adsorbate-induced reconstruction of an array of atomic wires: Indium on the Si(553)-Au surface

The In-induced surface reconstruction of the Si(553)-Au surface has been studied using the combined experiment of low-energy-electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Low-energy-electron diffraction revealed that In adsorbates interact actively with the surface above 150 degrees C, widening the terraces uniformly and forming a new atomic wire array. This wire structure has a x2 period along the wires, where the phase coherence across the wires was much better than that of the pristine Si(553)-Au surface. The In-induced uniform terrace widening was confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy. More interestingly, the In adsorbates alter the metallic atomic wires of the Si(553)-Au surface with highly dispersive one-dimensional bands into insulating ones with still large dispersion.