Low-energy electron diffraction methods (and a quantitative intensity analysis) showed that, among the many suggested models for the Si(111)-(v3 x v3)Au R30º structure, the Ding-Chan-Ho model was the only one which satisfactorily explained the experimental data. The important features of this model were the absence of the first Si layer (as revealed by ion-scattering data), the size of the Au trimers (as revealed by X-ray diffraction), and the Au-Si interlayer distance (which was indicated by total-energy calculations).

J.Quinn, F.Jona, P.M.Marcus: Physical Review B, 1992, 46[11], 7288-91