Bismuth (Bi) is a surfactant which controls electronic and structural properties of epitaxially grown III-V compound semiconductors [1], which are important materials for electronics. These changes in the III-V properties, which are caused by the presence of surfactant atoms on the growth front, have been attributed to the surfactant-induced reconstruction transition of the growing surface [2,3]. Thus, the understanding of Bi-stabilized reconstructions of III-V(100) surfaces is essential. Also, studies of the Bi/III-V(100) surfaces are important for the growth of III-V’s alloyed with Bi (e.g. GaAsBi), which are potential materials for spintronics [4].
We have recently found that on the InP(100) surface, Bi forms an interesting (2x1) reconstruction [5], which should be a metallic surface and therefore unstable according to the theory. We have studied the electronic and structural properties of this unusual (2x1) reconstruction by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, and synchrotron-radiation core-level photoelectron spectroscopy. The presented results elucidate the atomic structure of the Bi/InP(100)(2x1) surface.
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