The surface structures of two model systems in the field of II-VI semiconductors, ZnSe(001)-c(2 x 2) and BeTe(001)-(2 x 1), were deduced from spot-profile analysis low-energy electron diffraction and surface X-ray diffraction. In the former case, a Zn-vacancy model could be unambiguously confirmed by a comparison of the surface X-ray diffraction data with density functional theory calculations. The BeTe surface consisted of [1¯10]-oriented Te dimmers; producing a large amount of surface strain. This caused pronounced vertical and lateral atomic displacements, in the underlying BeTe bilayers, which effectively relieved the surface strain. The experimentally derived atomic geometry was in very good agreement with the results of density functional theory calculations.

Surface Reconstructions of II-VI Compound Semiconductor Surfaces. C.Kumpf, W.Weigand, A.Müller, J.Wagner, V.Wagner, P.Bach, G.Schmidt, L.W.Molenkamp, J.Geurts, E.Umbach: Physica Status Solidi C, 2007, 4[9], 3183-90