Oxygen atoms on Si(100)-(2x1): Imaging with scanning tunneling microscopy

The authors use scanning tunneling microscopy to study the initial stage of oxidation for H2O exposed Si(100). Following H2O dissociation and saturation of the surface with Cl, a mild anneal allows the oxygen to insert into the Si dimer bonds. Bridge-bonded oxygen atoms appear as a dark spot in the center of the dimer. The density of these "split dimer" defects correlates with the c-type defect density on the clean surface. These results also show how to produce nearly defect-free halogen-terminated Si(100). (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.