A kinetic and thermodynamic analysis was carried out for reconstruction transitions on the GaAs(001) surface. It was shown that the transition from the As-stabilized (2 x 4)β2 to the Ga-stabilized (4 x 2)β2 structures under As4 flux was a non-equilibrium phase transition and occurred if a certain steady concentration of arsenic adatoms was attained on the surface. The transition was continuous and could be approximated by a three-parameter isotherm. The moving force of an adsorbate-induced transition was the stabilization energy for the (2 x 4)β2 phase accompanying the formation of arsenic dimers from arsenic adatoms. This energy was estimated. The features of the phase transitions occurring under the As4 flux and under desorption conditions for an amorphous-arsenic film were discussed.

Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects of Reconstruction Transitions at the GaAs(001) Surface. Y.G.Galitsyn, V.G.Mansurov, S.P.Moshchenko, A.I.Toropov: Semiconductors, 2000, 34[8], 939-44