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Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 016102 (2001) [4 pages]

Quantitative Determination of the Metastability of Flat Ag Overlayers on GaAs(110)

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Hongbin Yu1, C. S. Jiang1, Ph. Ebert2, X. D. Wang1, J. M. White3,4,5, Qian Niu1,5, Zhenyu Zhang6, and C. K. Shih1,4,5
1Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
2Institut für Festkörperforschung, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
3Department of Chemistry and Bio-Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
4Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
5Center for Nano and Molecular Science and Technology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
6Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6032

Received 22 December 2000; published 14 December 2001

Atomically flat ultrathin Ag films on GaAs(110) can be formed through a kinetic pathway. However, such films are metastable and will transform to 3D islands upon high temperature annealing. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we have measured quantitatively the layer-resolved metastability of flat Ag overlayers as they evolve toward their stable state, and deduced the corresponding kinetic barrier the system has to overcome in reaching the stable state. These results indicate that the metastability of the Ag overlayer is defined by the quantum nature of the conduction electrons confined within the overlayer.

© 2002 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.016102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.016102
PACS:
68.55.Jk, 68.35.Ct, 68.37.Ef, 73.21.Fg
 
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