Ordering of the vicinal Si(1510) surface at low Au coverage

Reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) are used to investigate the ordering process of vicinal silicon surface. A vicinal Si(15 1 0) sample was cut from a Si(001) monocrystal and oriented by X-ray diffractometry techniques. At Au coverage within 1-2 ML and after the subsequent annealing at about 1000 K in UHV conditions this surface exhibits a rectangular imbricate step/terrace structure. The best surface ordering was found at 1.5-2 ML Au coverage where flat Si(001) terraces show 5x3.2 surface reconstruction. The edges of these rectangular terraces are parallel to the [011] and [01 (1) over bar] direction. Due to high density of corners formed by the rectangular terraces, this surface may be suitable for nucleation of quasi zero-dimensional structures.