The arrangement of Si substrate atoms in Si(100)4 x 3-In surface phase was studied using removal of In atoms at exposure of the surfaces to atomic hydrogen and monitoring the surface transformations by low energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. The Si(100)4 x 3-In surface was found to transform at H exposure to Si(100)4 x 1-H(In) surface showing definitely that Si substrate atoms were reconstructed. The persistence of 4 x 1 structure at high hydrogen exposures (when no Si dimerization could be preserved) unambiguously reduces the choice of possible structural models of Si substrate reconstruction to only three candidates. In turn, scanning tunnelling microscopy data of ≈0.5ML Si atom density in Si(100)(4 x 3)-In phase left a single realistic structure, namely a Si(100) surface having every second Si atom double row missing.

Si(100)4 x 3-In Surface Phase - Identification of Silicon Substrate Atom Reconstruction. A.V.Zotov, A.A.Saranin, K.V.Ignatovich, V.G.Lifshits, M.Katayama, K.Oura: Surface Science, 1997, 391[1-3], L1188-93