DESORPTION-KINETICS OF CONDENSED PHASES - 2-DIMENSIONAL PHASES OF SILVER ON GE(111)

Silver condenses on germanium (111) according to the Stranski-Krastanov growth mechanism. It forms initially a two-dimensional Ge(111)4 × 4-Ag phase with four silver atoms per sixteen germanium atoms, then a more dense two-dimensional phase Ge(111)√3 × √3-Ag with 0.85 Ag per germanium atom. These two-dimensional phases are followed by the epitaxial condensation of three-dimensional silver crystallites on Ge(111). The desorption kinetics of the two-dimensional phases are studied in the monophased domain as well as in the biphased domain. We find for both domains an island model according to which the desorption occurs indirectly via surface diffusion. © 1979.