Related papers: Atomic defects of the hydrogen-terminated Silicon(…
Using combined low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), we demonstrate hydrogen passivation of individual, selected dangling bonds (DBs) on a hydrogen-passivated Si(100)-2$\times$1 surface…
Defects of Ge quantum dot arrays may affect the electrophysical, photoelectrical or optical properties of Ge/Si heterostructures as well as the functionality of devices produced on their basis. The defects of Ge quantum dot arrays formed at…
Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) has remarkable radiation resistance properties and can be deposited on a lot of different substrates. A-Si:H based particle detectors have been built since mid 1980s as planar p-i-n or Schottky diode…
Si(331)-(12x1) is the only confirmed planar silicon surface with a stable reconstruction located between (111) and (110). We have optimized the annealing sequence and are able to obtain almost defect free, atomically precise surface areas…
Amorphous hydrogenated silicon (a-Si:H) is an important material for surface defect passivation of photovoltaic silicon (Si) wafers in order to reduce their recombination losses. The material is however unstable with regards to hydrogen (H)…
Defects ~10 nm in size, with number densities ~10^{10} cm^{-2}, form spontaneously beneath ion-milled, etched, or HF-dipped silicon surfaces examined in our Ti-ion getter-pumped transmission electron microscope (TEM) after exposure to air.…
The structure of amorphous silicon is widely thought of as a fourfold-connected random network, and yet it is defective atoms, with fewer or more than four bonds, that make it particularly interesting. Despite many attempts to explain such…
The nanostructure of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a Si:H) is studied by a combination of small-angle X-ray (SAXS) and neutron scattering (SANS) with a spatial resolution of 0.8 nm. The a-Si:H materials were deposited using a range of…
Silicon (Si) is one of the most extensively studied materials owing to its significance to semiconductor science and technology. While efforts to find a new three-dimensional (3D) Si crystal with unusual properties have made some progress,…
Several methods are constructed for large-scale electronic structure calculations. Test calculations are carried out with up to 10^7 atoms. As an application, cleavage process of silicon is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation with…
Silicon self-assembly at step edges in the initial stage of homoepitaxial growth on a vicinal Si(111) surface is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The resulting atomic structures change dramatically from a parallel array of…
Water interactions with oxygen-deficient cerium dioxide (CeO$_2$) surfaces are central to hydrogen production and catalytic redox reactions, but the atomic-scale details of how defects influence adsorption and reactivity remain elusive.…
Four-point measurements using a multi-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) are carried out in order to determine surface and step conductivities on Si(111) surfaces. In a first step, distance-dependent four-point measurements in the…
The complex atomic structures and defects of metal-oxide surfaces are vital for a variety of applications in material science and chemistry. While scanning probe microscopy allows accessing atomic-scale structures in real space, elemental…
We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and Auger electron spectroscopy to study the behavior of adsorbed phosphine (PH$_{3}$) on Si(001), as a function of annealing temperature, paying particular attention to the formation of the Si-P…
Here we review scanning tunneling microscopy research on the surface determination for various types of kagome materials, including 11-type (CoSn, FeSn, FeGe), 32-type (Fe3Sn2), 13-type (Mn3Sn), 135-type (AV3Sb5, A = K, Rb, Cs), 166-type…
The structural and electronic properties of amorphous silicon ($a$-Si) are investigated by first-principles calculations based on the density-functional theory (DFT), focusing on the intrinsic structural defects. By simulated melting and…
Scanning tunneling luminescence microscopy (STLM) along with scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) is applied to a step-bunched, oxidized 4H-SiC surface prepared on the silicon face of a commercial, n-type SiC wafer using a silicon melt…
Freestanding oxide films offer significant potential for integrating exotic quantum functionalities with semiconductor technologies. However, their performance is critically limited by surface roughness and interfacial imperfection caused…
To achieve atomic-level characterization of the diamond (001) surface, persistent efforts have been made over the past few decades. The motivation behind the pursuit extends beyond investigating surface defects and adsorbates; it also…