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Role of defects in two-dimensional phase transitions: An STM study of the Sn/Ge(111) system.

full text URL:http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v61/i3/p2235_1

A. V. Melechko, J. Braun, H. H. Weitering, and E. W. Plummer
 

 

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
 

 

Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
 

Received 16 July 1999

The influence of Ge substitutional defects and vacancies on the (sqrt[3] x sqrt[3])-->(3 x 3) charge-density wave phase transition in the alpha phase of Sn on Ge(111) has been studied using a variable-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. Above 105 K, Ge substitutional defects stabilize regions with (3 x 3) symmetry that grow with decreasing temperature and can be described by a superposition of exponentially damped waves. At low temperatures, T <~ 105 K defect-defect density-wave-mediated interactions force an alignment of the defects onto a honeycomb sublattice that supports the low-temperature (3 x 3) phase. This defect-mediated phase transition is completely reversible. The length scales involved in this defect-defect interaction dictate the domain size ( ~ 10⁴ Å ²).

©2000 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v61/p2235
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.61.2235
PACS: 68.35.Rh, 68.35.Bs, 71.45.Lr, 72.10.Fk

Learn more by visiting pages of researchers working in this area:

Luca Ottaviano

Roger Uhrberg

José Ortega Mateo

Phase transitions in wikipedia

Sn/Ge(111) image gallery

Ph.D. Dissertation
(10 Mb pdf)

Ward Plummer

Hanno Weitering

Interactive Phase Transitions on lattices with Java applets