The diffusion of Ge adatoms on the In-stabilized intermediate temperature phase of Ge(111) was studied by means of room-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy. It was found that, in addition to the diffusion of individual adatoms neighbouring some defects, most of the moving adatoms formed strings or closed loops which consisted of segments that lay along <110> directions. The mean lifetime of Ge adatoms on Ge(111) was estimated, and the activation energy was deduced to be equal to 0.83eV. This value was in excellent agreement with the theoretical value for clean Ge(111) surfaces. It was concluded that the present energy barrier was a characteristic of clean Ge(111) surfaces, and that no complicated collective motion was involved in the surface diffusion of Ge adatoms.

Z.Gai, H.Yu, W.S.Yang: Physical Review B, 1996, 53[20], 13547-50

Table 36

Diffusion of Ga in Ge