About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Physical Review Letters
Paper
Nature of the step-height transition on vicinal Si(001) surfaces
Abstract
The Si(001)2×1 surface is expected to undergo a phase transition from single to double-atonic-height steps with increasing angle of miscut. Here we show that this transition is quite different than previously believed, involving something like a devils staircase of transitions in a mixed phase consisting of a complex sequence of single and double steps. Even at low angles, where only single steps occur, the areas of 2×1 and 1×2 regions are unequal, in agreement with recent experimental results. © 1991 The American Physical Society.