Electronic and atomic structures of a 3x3 surface formed by a binary Sn/Ag overlayer on the Ge(111)c(2x8) surface: ARPES, LEED, and STM studies

摘要

The electronic and atomic structures of a well-ordered 3x3 periodicity of a binary Sn/Ag overlayer on Ge(111) have been studied. The ordered binary overlayer was formed by depositing 0.75 monolayer of Sn on an Ag/Ge(111) root 3x root 3 surface. Annealing at 330 degrees C resulted in a low-energy electron diffraction pattern that exhibited sharp spots. A detailed electronic structure investigation was performed by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The Sn/Ag/Ge(111) 3x3 surface shows a rich band structure. There are seven bands which are positively identified as 3x3 surface bands, all within 1.5 eV below the Fermi level (E-F). The upper two bands disperse across E-F exhibiting steep almost linear dispersions down to a minimum energy of approximate to 0.40 eV below E-F at the (Gamma) over bar point (approximate to 0.30 eV at the (K) over bar point). Constant energy contours have been mapped in the 3x3 surface Brillouin zone (SBZ) in order to study an intriguing split observed in the band structure related to the two upper bands. It turned out that the two upper bands are degenerate along the (Gamma) over bar - (K) over bar and (M) over bar - (K) over bar symmetry lines of the 3x3 SBZ but separated along (Gamma) over bar - (M) over bar. Scanning tunneling microscopy images obtained at approximate to 40 K show essentially a hexagonal structure except for a honeycomb structure in a limited bias range imaging empty states. Core-level spectroscopy shows a narrow Sn 4d spectrum consistent with the high degree of structural order.