Atomically resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction were used to determine the surface structure of the GaAs surface prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. An (8 x 1) reconstruction was found, which formed by exchanging Ga and As atoms analogously to the GaAs(113)A-(8 x 1) reconstruction proposed by Wassermeier et alia (1995). The characteristic components of the A and B (8 x 1) surface reconstructions were dimers forming zig-zag chains along [3¯3¯2] in 2 atomic levels. While on the A surface the dimers were built of As atoms, on the B surface Ga atoms formed the dimers. The morphology of the GaAs(¯1¯1¯3)B-(8 x 1) surface was rather smooth and did not exhibit the typical roughness of the GaAs(113)A-(8 x 1) surface.

Atomic Structure of the GaAs(¯1¯1¯3)B(8 x 1) Surface Reconstruction. J.Márquez, L.Geelhaar, K.Jacobi: Physical Review B, 2000, 62, 9969-72