Abstract
Initial stages of Ti adsorption up to coverage of ∼3 monolayers (ML) on the Si (1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface at room temperature have been studied by synchrotron-radiation ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction. At very low coverage (≤ 0.02 ML) the individual Ti atoms adsorbed on the Si rest atom sites. At higher coverage (∼0.04 ML) the discrete adatoms are no longer distinct and show a fuzzy appearance indicating the interactions of Ti atoms with Si adatoms. For coverage greater than 0.24 ML, the Si atoms start to mix with the Ti atoms to form an intermixed Ti/Si film and the 7 × 7 reconstruction is destroyed gradually. The reconstruction is removed completely at 1 ML Ti deposition. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.