The effect of surface reconstruction on contrast in scanning electron microscopy of the Si(100)-(2 x 1) surface was investigated. A theory of the initial secondary production rate was developed and an upper bound on the rate was shown to depend on the product of the integrated intensities of the initial and final reflection high-energy electron diffraction states. These states were calculated with a reflection matrix method and their depth dependence was investigated. The results were used to analyse scanning electron microscopy contrast in images of 1 x 2- and 2 x 1-regions of the Si(100)-(2 x 1) surface reported by Watanabe et al. The calculated integrated intensities were consistent with the experimental images and with the experimentally observed dependence of the contrast on the azimuth of the incident electron beam. This supports the idea that the observed contrast was caused by the effect of surface reconstruction on the reflection high-energy electron diffraction states.

RHEED Wave Functions and the Effect of Reconstruction on Secondary Electron Emission from the Si(100) Surface. T.Kawamura, P.A.Maksym: Surface Science, 2007, 601[3], 822-9