The structure of Al on Si(100) surfaces, where the coverage was less than 0.5 of a monolayer, was studied by using scanning tunnelling microscopy. Such measurements permitted Al dimers to be atomically resolved, and the Al dimer bond was shown to be parallel to the Si dimer bond. The atomic arrangements at the ends of Al dimer rows were analyzed by using dual-bias scanning tunnelling microscopic images. It was found that 2 possible structures at the end of an Al dimer row were a single atom termination or a dimer termination; depending upon whether the Al dimer row ended at a surface defect.

C.Zhu, S.Misawa, S.Tsukahara: Journal of Applied Physics, 1996, 80[7], 4