An X-ray scattering investigation was made of the effect of Sb upon the formation of stacking faults during (111) growth. Under equilibrium conditions, the pre-deposition of Sb monolayers resulted in a (v3 x v3)R 30º reconstruction in which the top layer was wrongly stacked. During continued Ag growth at 100C, the Sb segregated and the Ag atoms returned to their correct stacking while new Ag atoms in the top layer again had the wrong stacking. This effectively led to the creation of a so-called floating stacking fault. Because of kinetic limitations, the same effect occurred at lower Sb coverages.

Floating Stacking Fault during Homo-Epitaxial Growth of Ag (111) S.A.De Vries, W.J.Huisman, P.Goedtkindt, M.J.Zwanenburg, S.L.Bennett, E.Vlieg: Physical Review Letters, 1998, 81[2], 381-4