First-principles density functional calculations and scanning tunnelling microscopic studies were made of Sb adsorption on (113) surfaces. Mobile physisorbed Sb4 molecules which were deposited at room temperature were attracted to disordered areas of the surface and became immobilized by chemisorption. It was found that Sb molecules could be adsorbed at several distinct sites. As the energy which was released due to the chemisorption of an Sb4 molecule could attain 4eV, some of the chemisorbed molecules could break. However, single Sb atoms (monomers) on top of the Si(113) 3 x 2 surfaces were suggested to be short-lived entities. This was because, due to the low formation energy of sub-surface self- interstitial defects, Sb monomers were easily incorporated into the surface layer as substitutional defects. At Sb coverages above 0.17, domains of 2 x 2 reconstruction appeared upon annealing. The tendency of Sb atoms to acquire an adatom substitutional geometry, and thereby reduce the tensile strain around adatom sites, was suggested to help to prevent surface roughening during epitaxy on Si(113).

J.Dabrowski, H.J.Müssig, G.Wolff, W.Arabczyk, S.Hinrich: Materials Science Forum, 1995, 196-201, 497-502